Kernova
by BizzyLizzy
Summary: SG1 are looking for something to help them in the fight against the Ori. What they find isn't quite what they expected.
1. Chapter 1

**Kernova – Chapter One**

_Note: Takes place in season 10, somewhere after Insiders but before The Quest. I've included Colonel Reynolds in this as I like his character and don't think he was used enough._

"Doesn't look like anyone's been along here for a while," Cameron commented as they followed the muddy path from the Stargate.

"Indeed," Teal'c was the only one to respond before the group fell silent again.

SG1 plus Vala had arrived on one of the planets that Baal had downloaded from the SGC computer. After much deliberation, General Landry made plans to send teams to the unvisited planets on the list in the hope of turning up something on the whereabouts of the weapon they were searching for. So far none of the teams had found anything, but there were plenty more still in the database and they had no choice but to try to beat Baal to any information, or even better, the weapon itself.

After an hour's walk they began to see indications of civilisation – crops growing in the fields, wheel tracks embedded in the dirt track and in the distance were buildings of some kind. As they drew closer to the settlement, Teal'c stopped abruptly, raising his fist and bringing the rest of the team to a halt.

"What've you got?" Cameron asked quietly, looking around warily, his grip on his P-90 tightening although he couldn't see any signs of trouble.

"Smoke rising from the village," Teal'c told him briefly. "And it appears deserted."

"You can see all that from here?"

"I can."

"OK, we proceed with caution. Teal'c, you and Sam approach from the west, Jackson, Vala, we'll take the east," Cameron instructed.

Checking to make sure Vala was with them, Cameron led the way to the far side of the village, taking cover among the buildings that stood on the outskirts.

"I don't see anyone," Daniel said quietly.

"No," Cameron agreed, standing up to move further into the village.

Half an hour later they gathered outside the last building that had been searched, all taking grateful gulps of the fresh air. There was no one left alive in the village. Everywhere they had gone they had found a similar scene: bodies dumped in piles and left to rot, homes ransacked and emptied of anything worth taking before they had been set on fire. The only reason the buildings were left standing was because of their unusually sturdy construction that made them look as though they had been standing for hundreds of years through whatever nature could throw at them.

"Well that was unpleasant," Cameron threw out to no one in particular.

"I've seen this before," Vala told them as she pulled out her water bottle. "It's the Alliance's form of revenge on those who won't do what they want. Word soon gets around and then they find everyone miraculously becomes co-operative."

"We have got to do something about those guys," Cameron couldn't hide his disgust at what people could do to their fellow humans.

"It has been several days since this occurred," Teal'c said. "I doubt we will find any of them still around."

"You know what I mean," Cameron rolled his eyes, before smiling ruefully as he realised Teal'c was joking. "There's a time and a place, big fella."

"Where's Vala?" Sam asked, causing everyone to look around for their missing team member.

"Vala, where the hell have you got to?" Cameron snapped into his radio, waiting impatiently for her response.

"I thought I saw someone in the trees," Vala spoke in hushed tones. "I'm north-west of your position."

"Stay where you are, we're coming to you."

Taking Vala's report seriously, they split into pairs and made their way through the trees but could find no sign of her.

"The ground has been disturbed recently," Teal'c reported from where he was crouched. "By several pairs of feet. We should go in that direction." He pointed to where the woodland began to climb and they followed his lead, eyes peeled for signs of danger or whoever it was that Vala was pursuing.

Cameron and Sam had just reached the top of the slope when the ground gave way beneath their feet. Before they had chance to react, they found themselves at the bottom of a deep pit with sheer sides of crumbly earth that would not allow them to gain any kind of purchase on it to get themselves out.

"Are you guys alright?" Daniel shouted down to them as he began to rummage in his pack for some rope.

"We're fine and dandy," Cameron yelled irritably. "Just get us out of here pronto."

The only response he got was a grunt and a couple of dull thuds.

"Daniel? Teal'c? What's going on?" Sam called anxiously when they heard no more. Almost immediately two limp bodies landed in the pit right in front of them. "Looks like they've been drugged," Sam said as she pulled a dart out of Daniel's arm, finding another two in Teal'c's back.

"Hey!" Cameron shouted to their invisible assailants. "What's going on? What do you want with us?" He received no reply but a few minutes later he could hear Vala complaining loudly.

"Hey, stop pushing. I'm going as quickly as I can considering I'm blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back. Who are you and what do you want with us?"

Again, there was no response from their so far invisible and unidentifiable captors and Vala joined the others at the bottom of the pit with a loud grunt as she landed heavily on top of the still unconscious Teal'c and Daniel.

"You alright?" Cameron asked as he and Sam untied her and helped her to her feet.

"As alright as I can be for someone who was just pushed down a thirty foot hole," Vala complained as she looked around, her eyes coming to rest on the two people who had provided her with a softer landing. "What about them?"

"They're going to be fine," Cameron said, taking her response as an indication she was unharmed. "And it's not thirty foot – that's no more than fifteen."

"Oh well that makes all the difference doesn't it," Vala sniped at him.

"What happened to you?" Sam changed the subject.

"When I got up here I was caught in some kind of trap, I didn't get a look at whoever it was as the first thing they did was to blindfold me before tying me up and marching me here."

"We've still got our weapons," Cameron observed, noting that Vala, Teal'c and Daniel were all minus theirs. "How about we see if we can get out of here? Sam, if you stand on my shoulders you may be able to climb out and lower down a rope."

Sam was reaching up to try to gain a hand-hold on the dry, crumbling edges of the pit when her body went limp and she fell to the ground, a small dart protruding from her neck.

"I guess that plan's not going to work," Cameron announced unnecessarily as he checked Sam for injuries, frowning as he noticed one of her arms was bent at an unnatural angle. "I think it's broken." He looked up at Vala, who immediately began rummaging through her vest pockets, producing first aid supplies.

"We're going to have to set it while she's still unconscious," Vala said, all trace of her normally flippant manner gone for the moment.

"Yeah, I know," Cameron pulled a face as he probed the injured arm, grimacing as he straightened it but relieved Sam would know nothing about it until she woke. "That's it, I think."

"What happened?" A moan from Daniel alerted them to the fact that he had come around, although Teal'c was still out for the count.

"You and Teal'c were drugged and shoved down here with us," Cameron told him. "Sam tried to climb out but she got hit with one of those darts and broke her arm in the fall."

"Oh." Daniel sat up slowly, rubbing his neck and shoulders to ease the tense muscles he'd discovered when he moved. "Please don't do that," he snapped irritably as Vala took over rubbing his shoulders.

"Okey-dokey, just thought I'd make myself useful," she grinned at him, back to her old self. "So, how are we going to get out of this?"

"You mean you don't have any ideas of your own?" Cameron asked disbelievingly.

"Of course I do, I just wondered if you'd come up with anything yet," Vala retorted, flicking her plaited hair back over her shoulder.

Cameron was prevented from responding to this as with a loud clang, something crashed above their heads blocking out the daylight and sealing them in the pit.

--

_Thanks for reading – hope you enjoyed it, please let me know what you thought. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"SG1 come in," Colonel Reynolds repeated as he led SGs3 and 5 towards the village that had been spotted by the UAV. SG1 had missed their scheduled check in the morning after they had left for the planet. When the SGC had been unable to make radio contact with them, the UAV had been sent up and they had seen the remains of the village. "SG5, hold position here and keep out of sight. SG3, with me." They approached the village with caution, finding it to be devoid of any living thing.

"This happened several days ago, sir," Captain Whitelaw informed his CO as he knelt beside one of the many burnt corpses.

"So where did SG1 go after coming here?" Reynolds mused half to himself until the two men who had been scouting the edges of the village returned with more hopeful news.

"There are recent tracks heading up through the woods to the north of the village," Sgt. Carrick reported.

Ordering SG5 to make their way north through the woods to join them, SG3 spread out and began to search the area carefully as they followed the recently-made tracks. They hadn't gone far when, at a sign from Whitelaw, they changed direction and began to pursue several figures that had been spotted some distance away. Their pursuit was brought to an abrupt stop when someone stepped out from behind one of the trees into their path. Instantly they were on the alert, weapons raised to cover this as yet unknown quantity.

"Stand down," Reynolds ordered as he realised they had been stopped by a girl of no more than ten or eleven. She was carrying a blow-pipe but she laid it on the ground and held her hands out in front of her, palms up, to show she was unarmed.

"You are of the first world?" She asked, her eyes darting from one face to the other nervously.

"Yes," Reynolds told her, thankful he'd been around the Stargate program long enough to understand what she meant.

"And you are their leader?"

"I'm Colonel Reynolds."

"I am Pendrea. I have heard tales of those from the first world. Have you come to help us?" She asked the question bluntly, but Reynolds could see the anxiety in her eyes.

"We were looking for some of our people who came here yesterday," Reynolds told her. "How many are there of you?"

Turning around, Pendrea beckoned to either side of her and children began to emerge from several directions until eleven others of varying ages surrounded her.

"There are others at the caves - they remained to care for the youngest ones," Pendrea said before turning to the other children. "It is alright, they will not harm us. Put down your pipes."

Reynolds watched as each child tucked a pipe, similar to the one Pendrea had placed on the ground, somewhere among their clothing and guessed they must be some kind of weapon.

"The others of who you speak," Pendrea continued. "We saw them arrive yesterday but we did not see the markings of the first world on them," she pointed at the 'gate symbol for earth on his left arm. "If we had known who they were, we would have approached them."

"What happened?" Reynolds asked, trying to keep his voice calm and even.

"We trapped them in the pit," Pendrea told him, sensing the change in Reynold's mood and instinctively taking a step backwards. "But we did not harm them - our pipes only deliver a small dart that sends you to sleep for a short time. Come, I will show you."

After sending most of the children back to the caves, Pendrea led the way to a rectangular metal slab placed on the ground in front of them.

"They're under that?" Reynolds looked at the accompanying children in disbelief, about to get his men to set to work on moving the metal lid when Pendrea stopped him.

"There is no need, watch."

Reynolds stood back and watched with interest as the children attached several lengths of rope to rings in the metal sheet before throwing them up to a pulley attached to the tree above that had gone unnoticed until now. With almost no effort, the metal was lifted and deposited away from the pit.

"It's about damn time," Colonel Mitchell's annoyed voice floated up to them and Pendrea and the children who had remained with her began to back away, looking as though they were about to turn tail and run.

"Get them out of there," Reynolds ordered the others, his mouth twitching with amusement at Mitchell's response, indicating that at least there weren't any serious injuries, before turning his attention to the children. "Are there any more survivors from your village?"

"No," Pendrea told him quietly, trying to prevent the others from hearing her. "There were four refuges and our number includes those from two of them, but something must have gone wrong and I could not find anyone from the other two places."

"How long have you been hiding?"

"This is the third day."

"I see." Reynolds considered this for a moment before continuing, seeing the hope in Pendrea's face. "It may be best if you came back with us for now until we can see about resettling you."

"To the first world?" Pendrea asked in awe. She'd hoped these people would help, but to actually go to the first world was beyond her wildest dreams.

"Yes," he smiled at her reaction. "What's going on?" He turned to where most of SG1 and Vala were waiting anxiously at the edge of the pit for their remaining member to be brought up.

"Sam broke her arm," Daniel told him. "Your field medic's just making sure it's alright before they bring her up."

"Please accept my apologies," Pendrea stepped forward. She didn't really want to bring attention to herself but this needed to be said. "It was not our intention to cause you harm."

"You did this to us?" Cameron asked disbelievingly, seeing just a kid standing in front of him, and a pretty scrawny one at that.

"This is Pendrea," Reynolds introduced her. "She's one of the few survivors from the village. Pendrea, this is Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell, Daniel Jackson, Vala Maldoran and Teal'c. Lieutenant-Colonel Carter is the one just being brought up."

"Isn't there anyone in charge?" Cameron demanded, looking around as though expecting someone else to appear out of thin air.

"As the eldest, responsibility for my people falls to me," Pendrea responded with calm dignity.

"Really? Aren't you a little young for that kind of responsibility?"

"I will be thirteen next summer," Pendrea explained. "All those who reach thirteen summers are required to undergo their apprenticeship and remained with the rest of the villagers."

"I see." He accepted this and turned back to Reynolds. "What happens now?"

"We'll bring the survivors back to the SGC," Reynolds told him. "We can see to that if you want to go ahead and get yourselves checked out." It hadn't escaped his notice that the four of them were looking the worse for wear with numerous scrapes and bruises that should probably receive medical attention.

"We would like to offer you refreshment before you go," Pendrea broke in on the discussion having spoken hastily to the others before they disappeared deeper into the woods. "As an apology and to thank you for your offer of assistance. It is only a short distance."

"Thanks for the thought," Cameron began. "But…What's going on?"

One of the children had returned, a boy several years younger than Pendrea, and whispered something into her ear, something that made her turn pale and her eyes widen in fear.

"We must hurry to the caves," she told them. "The death-wind has arrived early."

"Death-wind?" Daniel asked curiously, latching on to the word immediately. "You mean a storm of some kind?"

"Yes," Pendrea confirmed, urgency in her voice as she tried to make these strangers understand the seriousness of the situation. "But it is not an ordinary storm, it is very strong, very dangerous and destroys everything in its path."

"You mean like a hurricane?" Cameron looked at the sky for any indication of danger. Pendrea stared at him, not understanding the unfamiliar word.

"I do not know, but if we do not find shelter immediately, it will be upon us and it will be too late."

"I do not know of what she speaks, but the birds have fallen silent and there is a strange stillness in the air," Teal'c managed to convince the others of the seriousness of the situation.

"Wouldn't it be better to head back to the 'gate?" Vala asked, turning to do just that.

"No, it is too far," Pendrea told her. "It is almost here, we must go to the caves now." Not waiting any longer, she started jogging in the direction the other children had already taken, and at a nod from Reynolds, the SG teams followed her, with Daniel and Teal'c supporting a groggy Sam.

Reynolds brought up the rear and spoke rapidly into his radio to SG9 who had been left guarding the 'gate. "We're expecting some severe weather, get yourselves back to the SGC immediately. We've found SG1 and a number of children who survived the attack on the village – we're heading for shelter in some caves north-west of the village. Reynolds out."

He was the last one to enter the caves, ducking his head to avoid the low entrance, feeling the wind that had been picking up speed reach full force as he did so. Almost immediately all other sound was blocked out as the howling wind made its presence known, accompanied by the crash of trees falling and the thunder of loosened rocks sliding down the hillside.

As soon as he was safely inside, he found himself being pushed to one side as three boys slid a large stone in front of the entrance, making use of another pulley system that made light work of the task. Once the stone was in place, the noise from the outside world was cut off abruptly.

--

_To be continued..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As soon as they were inside the cave, Lt Mayhew escorted Sam to a smaller chamber away from the main living area, followed by the rest of SG1. It turned out that they weren't in just one cave but a series of interconnecting ones that all led off from the main living area. The smaller ones, like this one, had been kitted out as bedrooms and there were a couple of small makeshift bathrooms as well.

"Pendrea says we can use this to get you cleaned up and treat any injuries," Lt Mayhew told them.

A few minutes later, Pendrea and another girl returned with bowls of warm water, clean cloths and smaller dishes containing a green paste.

"Once your injuries are clean, this will help ease any discomfort," Pendrea assured Daniel as he looked dubiously at the substance. Teal'c didn't hesitate and had already plastered the balm on to several nasty looking grazes, making himself look a little odd until it had dried and left only a faint greenish tinge to his skin.

"It appears to be most effective," he bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"What's in it?" Cameron asked, equally uncertain about the paste.

"Herbs that grow in the lower foothills of the mountains," Pendrea told him. "It is a journey of several days to collect them so we use it sparingly."

"It's not going to kill us is it?" Cameron looked to Lt Mayhew for confirmation.

"It seems to have some kind of antiseptic property," Mayhew assured him. "And don't forget, a lot of medicinal products have their origins in plants. I'd recommend using the paste on your minor cuts and grazes, sir. My supplies are limited and should be reserved for anything more serious."

"OK, but if my arms drop off I'll know who to blame," Cameron sighed and began applying the balm to his now clean limbs. When he was done, he realised Daniel, Teal'c and Vala had already finished and returned to the living area, leaving only Lt Mayhew and Sam in this chamber.

"How is she?" Cameron asked as he saw how pale Sam was as she lay propped up on one of the beds, her forehead beaded with drops of moisture.

"She should be fine," Mayhew assured him. "You did a good job setting her arm so it's mainly pain and shock. I've given her a shot of morphine that should be kicking in any time now. Once she's rested she'll feel better."

Even as he was talking, Sam's eyes had slid closed, her breathing grew slower and more regular as she drifted off to sleep.

"I'll check in on her from time to time," Mayhew said as he stowed away his medical supplies.

"Let's go join the party then," Cameron said, as they returned to the main area where the rest of the children and the SGC personnel were already gathered.

"Please, sit," a girl said as she took Cameron's hand and led him towards a roughly made chair set against one of the walls, while another girl led Mayhew to another empty chair.

Mugs of something hot were passed around and when everyone had a drink, platters of food were handed around. It became clear that this activity was keeping all but a few of the children occupied. There were five children, a little younger than Pendrea, sitting to one side taking care of three babies and four toddlers who were too young to be involved in the catering arrangements. It was all quietly orderly, the children playing peacefully under supervision, even the babies making little fuss.

As the makeshift meal ended, Cameron turned to Pendrea.

"Any idea how long we'll be stuck here?"

"It is hard to say," Pendrea said. "It is usual for the death wind to persist for several days. It is not likely we will be able to leave before morning."

"This place looks like you were planning for something like this to happen," Daniel commented as he returned from taking a look around the cave.

"The death-wind happens every three or four years, the last time was three years ago so we have been preparing for it," Pendrea confirmed his thoughts. "Normally it is summer before it begins but this year it was early."

"I noticed some markings on the walls of of some of the caves," Daniel changed the subject to what had really interested him. "Can you tell me about them?"

For a moment, he wondered what he had said as Pendrea turned very white, then, acting as though he hadn't said anything, stood up and began to organise the children.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Reynolds offered, watching as the children bustled around, clearing up the plates and mugs that had been used.

"It is good for them to be busy," Pendrea considered his offer. "But perhaps some of you could help with the preparations for our evening meal. Brea and Carwin will show you where everything is."

Soon the cave was filled with the busy hum of several of the men chatting to Brea and Carwin as they peeled and chopped vegetables while the remainder occupied themselves with playing games with the rest of the children.

Cameron, with something bugging him about the whole situation, watched as Reynolds caught Pendrea's attention as she was about to walk past him.

"Pendrea?"

"Is there something you need?" Pendrea asked nervously, not entirely comfortable with all these strangers around.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," he told her, leading her away from the bustle of the living area.

"I am well, thank you," Pendrea responded looking puzzled at this sudden concern over her welfare.

"And when did you last get any sleep?"

"I…it…" Pendrea stumbled over her answer, not wanting to admit to any kind of weakness, but not able to tell a lie either.

"Have you slept properly since all this happened?" Reynolds deliberately avoided mentioning anything specific, but knew the girl understood what he meant when she looked away from him uncomfortably before shaking her head. "I didn't think so. Why don't you get some rest now?"

"The others need me," she protested.

"Yes they do, but you're no good to them if you're dropping with exhaustion," Reynolds spoke bluntly, making sure his message got home. "They're all fine for now – there are plenty of people keeping an eye out for them, and if you're needed, we can come and fetch you."

Pendrea still hesitated, but her common sense told her what she needed to do and so allowed herself to be steered towards a bed in the next sleeping chamber. Taking only the time to pull off her shoes, Pendrea lay down and was asleep within moments, unaware of the blanket Reynolds draped over her before he left.

--

On his return, Reynolds joined Cameron and Teal'c as they headed back towards the sealed entrance. There was a narrow gap around the edges of the stone blocking the entrance - just enough to let in fresh air and to let them know the storm was still going at full strength.

"Some weather front they've got here," Cameron observed, rather unnecessarily.

"Yes, and I'm thinking if this causes as much damage as Pendrea says, we're going to have problems getting the youngest children to the 'gate safely," Reynolds frowned.

"What is with her, anyway?" Cameron voiced his concerns. "She doesn't act like a kid at all."

"In some respects she isn't any more," Reynolds said. "Someone had to take charge and she's just following the traditions of her people."

"It's pretty hard on her, though," Daniel added as he appeared after finishing a further scrutiny of the caves. "She's looking out for the needs of the others and being strong for them but hasn't had the chance to really deal with any of it herself. Good idea persuading her to get some rest," he said to Reynolds. "She looked like she was pretty much ready to drop."

"Are you sure she's alright with them?" Cameron nodded to where Vala was playing with the babies and toddlers, looking very much as though she belonged.

"Surprisingly enough, she's fine," Daniel told him. "I think we all keep forgetting what happened with Adria and how hard it must be for her."

"Shouldn't we be worried she might try to steal one of them?"

"Mitchell," Daniel narrowed his eyes warningly.

"Ok, ok." Cameron held his hands up as he gave in. "We were just talking about how we're going to manage to get everyone safely to the 'gate once this is over – and I think Sam might have a few problems on that score as well."

"Could the Odyssey not help us out?" Teal'c suggested having remained silent until now. In spite of all his years on earth he still found himself out of his depth at times, especially with the somewhat childish banter that the others seemed to enjoy so much.

"I think that might be our best bet," Reynolds nodded his head. "As soon as this weather clears enough we should send a couple of men to the 'gate to put in the request."

--

Pendrea woke several hours later on hearing one of the babies crying, recognising it as belonging to Chyreen. She hastily got up and hurried to where the babies were being entertained.

The woman with long dark hair – Vala - was already holding Chyreen who was happily staring up at her, his fist wrapped in her hair as she made soft cooing sounds that made him giggle.

"I thought I heard him crying," Pendrea explained as she watched the two of them together.

"You don't mind do you?" Vala asked, smiling warmly at her.

"No, not at all, but I think he is hungry. Here." Pendrea handed over the prepared bottle and watched as Chyreen readily accepted it. "I need to check on the evening meal."

"Can I ask you something?" Cameron asked her as soon as she appeared in the cooking area where he had gone to help with the food preparations.

"You just did," Pendrea looked confused.

"I was curious how a bunch of kids managed to trap us in that hole by themselves."

"Kids? You mean children?"

"Uh-huh," Cameron confirmed.

"It was not hard," Pendrea shrugged as she tasted the stew that was simmering away filling the whole living space with an appetising fragrance. "Vala did not see us and walked into one of the hunting traps, you and Colonel Carter fell in by yourselves and we used our blow-pipes on the other two so we could trap them in the pit as well. If none of you had activated the traps we would have used the darts on all of you."

"You had all that set up just in case you were attacked?"

"Oh no, they are used for hunting and trapping animals," Pendrea assured him, "but they served well when we thought you were with those who had attacked our village."

"Well that makes me feel a whole lot better," Cameron added, half under his breath.

"I am glad I could be of help," Pendrea took his words literally and began to organise both adults and children in the final preparations for supper, the children obeying automatically, the adults, after a brief hesitation, also doing as they were asked and soon everyone was seated with a bowlful of the stew in front of them.

Once everyone had eaten and the dishes cleaned and put away, most of the children went to bed, followed shortly afterwards by the adults except for those who had pulled the first night watch shift.

Through the night the storm continued to rage until the early hours when a lull caught the attention of Sgt. Haynes who was currently on duty. Taking the opportunity to open the entrance to the cave to see what was going on in the early morning light, Haynes stepped into a very different world from the one they had left outside the previous day. Taking only a moment to survey the landscape, he headed for the room where his CO was currently asleep.

"What is it?" Reynolds asked, awake and alert in an instant, while the three male members of SG1 who were sharing the same room also sat up at the intrusion.

"The storm's eased, sir," Haynes reported. "I've taken a look outside and it's a real mess – trees are down all over the place and there have been a number of landslides that'll make a return to the 'gate pretty hazardous, and near on impossible to get the children there in one piece."

While he talked, the four men listening had been pulling their boots on and were ready to follow him back out to the entrance to see what the situation was for themselves.

"That's got to be a category three or four," Cameron whistled in awe at the extent of the damage.

"Indeed," Teal'c acknowledged the comment, going outside to get a feel for the current status of the weather for himself. "I believe it is just a temporary lull in the storm," he announced gravely.

"He is right," Pendrea confirmed, unnoticed until now. "It will remain like this for several hours before the storm returns, but it should be over by nightfall."

"Plan B then?" Daniel asked, knowing there was little other choice.

"Plan B it is," Reynolds said, heading back inside to wake the rest of the men, only to find them already up and eating something that looked like porridge.

"Morning, sir," Captain Whitelaw greeted him, hastening to explain further. "Pendrea said we were needed and had breakfast waiting for us."

"I see," Reynolds glanced at Pendrea but shelved any questions for the time being, focussing instead on the immediate situation. "The storm has eased enough to allow two of you to head for the 'gate. Whitelaw and Carrick, I want you to update General Landry on the situation here and request the Odyssey be diverted to pick up the rest of us as soon as possible. You'll need to make good speed as we have no idea how long it will be before the storm picks up again. Just make sure you don't take any stupid risks on the way. Good luck."

"What's going on?" Vala asked sleepily as she arrived on the scene in time to watch the two men leaving.

"There's a lull in the storm," Daniel filled her in. "But there's a lot of damage out there and we won't be able to get the children back safely. Two of the men are heading back to the SGC to request the Odyssey be rerouted to pick us up."

"Good idea," Vala agreed, surprising everyone, but her face was serious as she continued to talk. "Colonel Carter didn't have a very good night – she's just dropped off to sleep now. She was sick a couple of times and I think she's got a fever."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Lt Mayhew jumped up, grabbed his pack and headed towards the room Sam and Vala had been sharing.

"Yes, why didn't you say something sooner?" Cameron demanded, his eyes glinting and face stony.

"She didn't want to bother anyone else," Vala shrugged as she accepted the bowl of porridge Pendrea handed her. "And the fever didn't start until a short time ago. Do you really think I'd have let her suffer if I thought she was really ill?"

"I suppose not," Cameron grudgingly accepted the explanation before following Daniel and Teal'c who had already headed off to see Sam, the three of them trudging right back again after being sent packing by Lt Mayhew in his capacity as medic.

They waited anxiously for Mayhew to return, accepting their bowls of porridge when Pendrea kept offering them with quiet insistence. They'd eaten and helped clear the breakfast things away before Mayhew returned, a worried frown on his face.

"She's developed an infection," he reported. "I've set up an IV for fluids and given her antibiotics and something to try to bring the fever down but she really needs to be seen by a doctor as soon as possible."

"Unfortunately that's dependant on how quickly the Odyssey can get here," Cameron told him.

"I'm aware of that, sir," Mayhew said, turning to leave again. "I need to get back to my patient."

"Can we see her?" Daniel asked.

"For a few minutes, she really needs to be resting as much as possible. Oh, Pendrea, there are a few things I'm going to need…" Talking quietly to the girl, the two of them disappeared, followed by Daniel, Cameron and Teal'c.

"How are you doing?" Daniel asked, perching on the edge of the bed and taking Sam's uninjured hand, brushing her hair out her eyes.

"Not too good," she admitted almost apologetically. "I'm sure I'll be fine, just need some sleep."

"You do that," Cameron instructed. "And it looks like it's time we were going," he added as Mayhew arrived at that moment carrying the items he had requested. "Take it easy."

Teal'c didn't say anything but bowed his head, Sam understanding him without the use of words – they had been team-mates and friends for long enough to be able to almost read each other's minds on occasions. She watched through half-closed eyes as the others departed, barely noticing when Mayhew began checking her temperature and blood pressure once again and was asleep within moments.

--

The day passed slowly. Once breakfast had been eaten and cleared away, Pendrea took the children off to pack the few belongings they would be taking with them, the older ones supervising the younger to make sure each had at least one change of clothes as well as one or two prized possessions.

Before the children were finished with this, Colonel Reynolds returned from the cave entrance where he had been waiting to hear word from the two men sent to the 'gate – the only place in the cave where they could guarantee getting a radio signal.

"They've reached the 'gate safely," he was able to report. "The wind is already picking up speed again and they only just made it in time. The Odyssey should be here in a few hours."

"That's a relief," Daniel admitted from where he and Vala were entertaining the babies and toddlers

who were too small to help with the packing.

"How's Colonel Carter?" Reynolds went on to ask as he saw the anxious glances shared between the members of SG1, one of the closest-knit teams he'd ever known and also one of the most respected.

"Not too good," Daniel said. "The fever's worse and she seems pretty out of it."

"Unfortunately there's not much else we can do," Reynolds acknowledged, watching as the children began to return to the living area and decided to act on the idea he'd had while waiting for news. Pretty quickly, the children were divided into small groups, each assigned to work with one of the SGC personnel who weren't otherwise occupied and they were soon embroiled in learning first-aid and simple self-defence techniques.

"I'm not sure how popular you'll be when we get back," Daniel commented when Reynolds passed him as he headed for the kitchen area.

"I think they're enjoying themselves more than the kids," Reynolds looked back with a grin on his face. "Besides, it keeps them out of mischief."

"Would that be the men or the children?" Vala asked innocently, a wicked gleam in her eyes as her question went unanswered. "Are you going to see Pendrea?"

"Yes," Reynolds wondered what Vala was up to. He'd spent enough time around her to be wary of her motives in just about everything she did.

"Don't you think she's a little strange?"

"In what way?" Daniel asked.

"Well, I was awake several times in the night with Sam, and every time Pendrea was up and about. I asked if everything was alright but she just said some of the children had been having nightmares or one of the babies had needed feeding."

"She has been their leader since the attack," Daniel countered.

"Yes, but I think it's more than that," Vala tried to explain more clearly. "I never heard anything from any of the children, including those in a different room from her, so how did she know something was wrong?"

"And how did she know to get the rest of the men up earlier?" Reynolds asked, surprising Vala as he appeared to agree with her.

"Maybe she heard us talking?" Daniel frowned, trying to figure out an answer.

"Maybe," Vala said, "but that doesn't explain how she knew the children needed her without hearing anything."

"It may be that she's developed an instinct for when she's needed," Daniel said. "They've had to rely on each other for several days now."

"Possibly," Reynolds had come across plenty of stranger situations and would keep an open mind for the time being, and continued on his way to the kitchen where Pendrea had been working quietly to prepare lunch with the assistance of Colonel Mitchell.

"So you pretend to be someone else and threaten others if you do not receive payment?" Pendrea was asking, a puzzled expression on her face. Reynolds stood to one side, unnoticed for now, smiling to himself as he waited for Mitchell's response.

"Well, it's not exactly _threatening_," Cameron tried to explain further. "I mean it's mostly kids – children – that do this with an adult to supervise them."

"Surely that is not a responsible way to raise children? We all learn from an early age that we should work together and respect each other."

"It's just a bit of fun," Cameron was clearly foundering now and Reynolds stepped in.

"How's it going?" He asked innocently.

"I was just telling Pendrea about some of our customs. I started with hallowe'en, but I'm thinking that may not have been such a good idea," Cameron admitted.

"If these are your customs, I am not sure it is a place we would want to visit," Pendrea told Reynolds, looking more than a little worried at the prospect of going to Earth now.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Reynolds assured her. "But if you want to know more about our culture, why don't you ask Dr Jackson – he's got plenty of stories he can tell you."

"I will, thank you," Pendrea said with some relief before turning to more practical matters. "The midday meal is almost ready, would you mind letting the others know?"

Once lunch was over and the babies and toddlers had been settled for their afternoon nap, Daniel proceeded to enthral the rest of the children – and most of the adults – as he related a number of earth's customs and their origins at Pendrea's request.

Daniel would probably have talked the rest of the day away if Reynolds hadn't interrupted him.

"Sorry to break in, but we've just received word that the Odyssey has arrived and is standing by to transport us on board."

The next few minutes saw a hive of activity as the children each collected their personal belongings and waited patiently in their previously arranged groups for transport. As the storm was still raging, the transporter was only able to operate in a small area near the cave entrance. Sam and Lt Mayhew were in the first group, along with the babies, toddlers and some of the older children to look after them. Daniel and Vala joined the second group with Pendrea and the remaining children, but before they could be transported, a loud wail came from one of the boys.

"My toy!" He cried, trying to race back into the cave.

"Hush, I will fetch it for you," Pendrea assured him, hurrying to one of the side-rooms before returning a few moments later bearing a toy that had been a little too large to fit in the child's pack, just in time to see the group disappearing in a flash of light.

"It's alright," Reynolds told her, seeing the look on her face. "The rest of us are going up now, you'll soon be with them."

"Something is wrong!" She exclaimed, instinctively clutching Reynolds' arm tightly as they waited for the transporter.

Before he could respond, a garbled message on the radio caught his attention.

"Stand by…under attack…unknown…transporter malfunctioning..."

--

_To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Sam was whisked off by a team of waiting medics as soon as the first group materialised on the Odyssey, the older children looking around them nervously while the toddlers appeared fascinated at this new place with all sorts of wonders waiting to be discovered. Several personnel were standing by to usher the children to the cargo bay that had been converted into temporary accommodation for them, but they refused to leave until the rest of their group was complete.

"Where is Pendrea?" Asked Brea, who was next in age to Pendrea, when she saw their eldest member was absent from the second group.

"Burras forgot something and she returned to fetch it," one of the others told her.

"It's alright," Daniel assured the worried faces in front of him, managing to persuade them to move to the cargo bay. "She'll be with us in a few moments when the rest of our people are transported."

Colonel Emerson on the bridge of the Odyssey had received two updates on the status of the transportation process when Major Marks alerted him to the presence of an unknown ship.

"They're powering up weapons, sir," Marks told him, standing by to return fire, their shields already in place almost as soon as the strange ship had appeared on their sensors.

"This is Colonel Paul Emerson of the Earth ship Odyssey. Stand down your weapons or we will be forced to defend ourselves."

The only response was a deafening burst of weapons fire that shook the ship violently before they were able to fire their own guns. After a short battle, the other ship exploded in a brief flash of white before it winked out completely allowing the crew of the Odyssey to assess their situation.

--

"What's going on?" Cameron demanded, staring at Pendrea suspiciously, who shrank back from his glare.

"Colonel," Reynolds said warningly, frowning as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.

"How the hell did she know?" Cameron continued, taking a step closer towards the now visibly shaking Pendrea.

"Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c spoke up for the first time, his voice halting Cameron in his tracks.

"What?" He snapped, turning around to glare at the Jaffa.

"Perhaps it would be better to wait for the answers to your questions," Teal'c responded, not at all deterred by Mitchell's tone.

Cameron nodded, forcing himself to remember Pendrea was just a kid, although she generally acted much older. Reynolds turned his attention to the rest of the men.

"It looks as though we're going to be here a little while longer," he said. "And the last message indicated a malfunction with the transporter so we need to consider the possibility that we're going to have to get out of here on our own. It's getting dark now but hopefully the storm will clear during the night and we should head back to the 'gate as soon as it's light enough to do so safely. In the meantime, those not standing watch can make themselves useful and get this place tidied up."

Soon the cave was filled the busy hum of voices chattering quietly as they worked leaving Reynolds, Cameron and Teal'c alone with Pendrea who was still very pale, a dazed expression in her eyes as she remained rooted to the spot, not registering the activity going on around her.

"Pendrea?" Reynolds asked quietly, trying to catch her attention, startled at the look of despair on her face as she turned to look at him.

"They're gone," she whispered, barely loud enough to be heard. "I can't feel them any more."

"Who can't you feel?" Cameron asked, keeping his voice calmer this time, his manner less confrontational.

"I…I should probably get the evening meal started," Pendrea told him evasively, pulling herself together before hurrying off towards the kitchen area leaving the three men staring after her.

"Stand down, Mitchell," Reynolds laid a warning hand on Cameron's arm as he was about to follow her.

"She's hiding something," Cameron glared at Reynolds.

"Maybe, but do you really think she's got anything to do with the attack on the Odyssey?"

"I also believe she is concealing something," Teal'c said thoughtfully. "But I do not think she means us harm."

"We should at least keep an eye on what she's up to," Cameron insisted, unwilling to back down completely.

"I will assist her," Teal'c offered, not waiting for either of the other two to agree before disappearing to the kitchen.

--

"Teal'c tells me you would find it useful to hear more about my people," Pendrea stood in front of Reynolds and Cameron, looking nervously at Teal'c before sitting on the edge of her chair, her hands clenched tightly into fists.

"We want to be able to help you, and the more we know the better we can do that," Reynolds assured her, not giving Mitchell chance to say anything.

"He also said he thinks those who were on your ship are safe because of a shield." She didn't look as though she believed this, but continued to talk anyway. "Among my people are a small number who have the gift of insight that links us to each other and allows us to sense the rest of our people. Once they have mastered it, they become our elders."

"And I take it you have this gift?" Cameron asked, his tone curious and non-confrontational.

"Yes. Fewer are born with the gift in each generation and I am the only one remaining. Ability is not normally shown until the age of five summers, so it is possible some of our youngest may yet join me." Pendrea swallowed several times, staring down at her hands before carrying on. "It takes years to master the ability, so until we are old enough, the Elders control what we can access. When the last of the Elders passed on, the control was released and I had to learn how to manage the gift with the little training I had received. Ever since I can remember, I have always been aware of those around me, during the last few days the presence of the others has been much stronger but after they went to your ship, I felt fear and panic and then there was nothing, as though they were no longer there."

"Teal'c's probably right, you know," Cameron told her, for the first time his doubts about the girl taking a back seat. "The Odyssey's shields can handle most things and I guess they can also block out this signal of yours."

"Perhaps," Pendrea acknowledged, but still looking as though she didn't quite believe it as she got to her feet and headed back to the kitchen.

The three men exchanged glances. "So I guess that answers a few questions," Cameron was the first to speak.

"I'm not surprised she's feeling shell-shocked with all that going on in her head," Reynolds said thoughtfully before they lapsed into silence, only moving again when dinner was announced.

--

"So it finally blew itself out then?" Cameron asked as he stood with Reynolds and Teal'c at the entrance to the cave, looking out on the destruction the storm had wreaked by the light of the early morning sun.

"A couple of hours ago," Reynolds was able to confirm, based on the report he'd received from Sgt. Laidlaw who had taken the last watch and had woken the others just as the sun started to rise. "And we still haven't been able to make contact with the Odyssey."

"It's going to be one hell of a trek back to the 'gate," Cameron remarked, returning to the living area where a hasty breakfast was being prepared prior to venturing outside. "Where's Pendrea? Shouldn't she be up by now?"

"She is still sleeping," Teal'c informed him. "I woke during the night and found her packing the remainder of their possessions. She informed me she found it difficult to sleep when she could no longer sense the rest of her people. I told Sgt. Laidlaw not to wake her just yet."

"Good idea – it's going to be a hard enough trip without having her ready to fall asleep on us," Cameron agreed, hungrily eating his bowl of porridge.

After breakfast, most of the men headed out to start breaking a path down through the woods to the more level ground where the village lay, where the going would hopefully be a little easier. Several hours after this, Sgt. Laidlaw woke Pendrea, who looked as though she had barely slept at all.

"Why did you not wake me sooner?" Pendrea asked as she realised the others had already departed.

"Teal'c said you needed the sleep and the others have made a start on clearing a path - you being there wouldn't have made us go any faster. We'll soon catch up with them," he assured her. "But you're going to have to eat something first," he added as Pendrea made to prepare herself for the journey.

She gave him a long look before accepting the bowl of food he offered, eating most of it before once more getting to her feet, waiting impatiently for him to make sure the stove was out before joining her and they began to make their way along the route the others had already cleared.

--

"How long have we been at this?" Cameron wiped his forehead as he took a break from clearing branches and other debris from their path.

"A little over two hours," Teal'c told him, continuing to work, apparently unaffected by the hard labour.

"And we're still not even half way to the village."

"It's getting worse as well," Reynolds added as he joined them, signalling to the others to stop work for the moment. "I think we're going to have to give up clearing a path and try finding the easiest route down instead. Laidlaw and Pendrea will be here soon, we should rest until they get here."

Before anyone could respond, his radio crackled into life as a very relieved Sergeant Harriman made contact.

"It's good to hear you, sir," Harriman greeted him. "We've been trying to get hold of you for several hours now – we were concerned when we lost contact with the Odyssey."

"The Odyssey came under attack before they could transport the last of us on board," Reynolds informed him. "We've been unable to make contact with them since that happened yesterday afternoon."

"It's 0130 here, sir," Harriman prompted.

"It's a couple of hours past sunrise here," Reynolds updated him. "The storm blew itself out in the early hours of this morning and we headed out as soon as it was light enough. It's going to take us a while to get back, though – it's a real mess out here."

"We've got a couple of teams standing by if that's of any use."

"It would make our job a lot easier if someone were clearing the path from the other end," Cameron butted in. "It's taken us two hours just to get a couple of hundred metres, Sergeant."

"Help is on its way. SGC out," Harriman cut the connection just as Laidlaw and Pendrea appeared.

"Ok, break's over," Cameron announced, grimacing as he got to his feet, still suffering a few bruised muscles from falling into the pit several days ago.

Progress seemed to be even slower the further down the hillside they got, the number of fallen trees and debris blocking their path increased and they were now starting to encounter landslides that made the going hazardous.

"You don't want to go that way," Pendrea announced as the men in point tried to find a way around one obstacle, stopping dead in her tracks and preventing anyone else from going past her.

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Cameron's suspicions about her were returning with a vengeance, never having really been laid to rest in the first place in spite of the information she had supplied the previous evening.

"We won't be able to get through that way," she continued to insist, even as she found herself being swept along the path as the others followed the lead of their team-mates.

After twenty minutes, the whole group came to a standstill as they found a massive landslide blocking their way. The ground looked very unstable and even as they watched, one of the men who had been standing a little too close to the edge was nearly swept away as the ground began to move again, only being saved thanks to Teal'c's quick reflexes in pulling him back to safety.

"Have you got any suggestions about which way we _should _go," Cameron asked impatiently, having had enough of messing around and just wanted to get off this planet and into a hot shower as soon as possible.

Ignoring his tone, Pendrea took a good look around her before choosing a direction, not waiting to see if anyone was following her.

"Are you sure about this?" Reynolds asked, catching up with her. "This way doesn't look too promising."

"It will become easier soon," Pendrea assured him, continuing to lead the way, moving easily through, around and over the tangle of branches, tree trunks and rocks that littered their path.

"I really think we should try…" Cameron started to suggest when he realised the route was becoming easier to manage. "How did you know which way to go?"

Pendrea shrugged in response, not really knowing how to answer. Figuring it was a good idea not to press the issue right now, particularly as her path-finding skills seemed to be paying off, Cameron fell back to walk with Teal'c, leaving Pendrea to lead the way with Reynolds keeping an eye on her. He appeared to have a lot more patience with the kid and he didn't think becoming irritated with her would help anyone.

They were making good progress now they were no longer having to double back on themselves to find the easiest route, until they were nearly at the bottom of the hillside and Pendrea came to a sudden halt in front of another landslide.

"We have to go down there," Pendrea said, preparing to do just that until Reynolds stopped her.

"Hold on, I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," he looked at the stability of the ground she had been about to move on to.

"The ground appears be packed more firmly here," Teal'c said as he knelt at the edge of the landslide, feeling his way in front of him. "I believe it may be possible to make our way down here without injury."

"Are you sure?" Cameron asked dubiously.

"Perhaps one of us should attempt it to determine whether or not it is safe?" Teal'c suggested. Before anyone could stop her, Pendrea was doing exactly that and was half way down before Teal'c followed with a hastily secured rope to provide additional support. He was barely half way down when, with a flurry of falling rocks and mud, Pendrea came scrabbling back up the slope, a panicked look on her face that had Teal'c catching hold of her and yelling for the men holding the rope to start pulling them back to the top.

"Someone tried to grab me but I kicked some rocks in his face and got away," Pendrea gasped out, still trying to catch her breath and looking fearfully back down the slope.

"It's alright," Reynolds hastily assured her, a hand on her shoulder as he looked into her face. "They're with us. They arrived several hours ago and they've just contacted us to let us know what happened down there. They didn't mean to scare you."

She stared back at him her eyes full of doubt, but she nodded her head and watched as the rest of the group made their way down the slope until only herself, Reynolds and Teal'c were left.

"Are you going to be alright coming down last?" Reynolds asked Teal'c.

"I will be fine," Teal'c assured him, steadying the support rope as Reynolds followed Pendrea down.

Cameron watched as Reynolds and Teal'c made it to the bottom, a bemused look on his face as Pendrea immediately took up position at Reynolds side. Ever since she had got down here she'd been casting sidelong looks at the new arrivals, evidently unwilling to trust anyone else after her earlier fright. When Reynolds headed towards them, Pendrea hesitated for a few moments before moving to where he was standing beside Teal'c. Up until now, she'd tried to avoid him – probably something to do with the puzzled looks she kept giving him whenever he opened his mouth, making him remember once again that he really needed to work on reducing his use of popular earth cultural references, particularly around people from other planets who all seemed to get the same look on their faces when he started talking.

"You alright?" He asked, noticing for the first time how exhausted she was looking.

"I am well, thank you," she told him politely.

Cameron nodded, not believing her but there wasn't much he could do about that right now. "Hey, looks like we're going to be taking a break here, why don't you pull up a log and take a seat." He sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree and Pendrea, after throwing him another puzzled look, sat beside him as she finally understood what he was referring to, accepting the packet he passed to her while pulling out his own turkey sandwich from a similar packet.

"Pretty good huh?" Cameron said, his mouth still full of sandwich.

Pendrea shrugged and took an unenthusiastic bite out of her own sandwich, the effort of chewing it appearing to be almost more than she could manage.

"I'm sure you'll feel better once you've eaten something," Cameron tried to humour her but finding it a real struggle. Normally he got on pretty well with kids but Pendrea was completely unlike every other child he had come across.

"Perhaps Pendrea would appreciate eating her meal in silence," Teal'c suggested, with more than a hint that he'd prefer that as well.

"Ok, big guy, have it your way," Cameron accepted this in good humour and silence fell among the small group, broken by the quiet sound of chattering coming from the others who were also sitting in small groups wherever a suitably placed tree trunk presented itself for reasonably comfortable seating.

A few minutes later, Pendrea dropped the sandwich she had given up on after a few bites and stood up so abruptly that she almost knocked Cameron flying.

"Hey – what's going on?" Cameron protested loudly, his complaint trailing off as he realised something had badly scared the girl.

"They've come back," Pendrea said in a voice so quiet he almost missed hearing her.

"Who's come back?"

"The ones who came before," she told him, her face going even whiter than it had been before, if that was at all possible. "They're coming this way – they know someone's been here because of the path your people made."

"Are you sure?" Cameron was still sceptical as she nodded an emphatic yes, but she'd been right about the attack on the Odyssey and he had to assume she was right now. "Teal'c?" Teal'c nodded his head and disappeared silently along the path to the 'gate to see what was going on, leaving Cameron to head over to where Reynolds and the other team leaders were now standing, making ready to head out again.

"What's wrong?" Reynolds asked, seeing the urgency with which Teal'c disappeared.

"Pendrea thinks the people who attacked her village have come back," Cameron told him. "Teal'c's gone to check it out." As he spoke, Teal'c radioed back confirmation of the presence of unfriendlies.

"We've half an hour before they get here," Reynolds got straight down to tactics. "This is what we're going to do…"

The men spread themselves out on the steep slopes to either side of the path they had been following, hoping their presence would go unnoticed but fully prepared to defend themselves should the need arise. A short time after taking their positions, the sound of voices could be clearly heard some time before the enemy came into view.

"…any survivors will already have left," one voice said, sounding a little nervous.

"There shouldn't have been any survivors," another voice responded icily. "If the strike team had done their job properly, we wouldn't have needed to come here at all."

"Why didn't we just let the representatives come on their own like we usually do?" A third voice questioned, apparently not taking the hint from the second voice. "I still don't see why we're here."

"Because if the representatives don't return, they can't very well tell their people the consequences of non-compliance with the Alliance, can they?" The second voice snapped. "We have to check it's safe for them to come."

Reynolds and Cameron exchanged glances, their feelings for the Alliance and the people below showing clearly in their faces. The group had now almost cleared the area in which the SGC personnel were concealed when a muffled yelp from the other side of the path halted the Alliance group. The yelp was almost immediately followed by a small mudslide carrying two of the men with it, alerting the enemy to their presence.

Before the Alliance had time to react and organise their own defences, they found themselves under attack but refused to give any ground, returning fire and taking up defensive positions as quickly as possible.

There were nine of them altogether and they fought fiercely, refusing to cede any ground even when there were only two of them left uninjured and able to continue the fight.

"Lay down your weapons and surrender," Reynolds yelled down to them, hoping to put an end to this unnecessary bloodshed. Of the seven who had been taken down, four weren't moving and the others didn't look as though they would survive without medical assistance and Reynolds was hoping to avoid further bloodshed. Several of their own people were also sporting injuries, most of them minor from the looks of it, but if this continued much longer it was probable more severe injuries would be incurred.

The only response he got was another round of rapid gunfire that left him with no option but to order their own men to finish them off, which was done quickly and efficiently. After a brief silence, several of the men began to make their way cautiously to check the status of the enemy, quickly giving the all-clear for the others to join them.

"There's only one survivor," Sgt. Harrison reported, his face sombre. "And his injuries are pretty severe, I don't think he'll make it even if we get him to a doctor."

"Do what you can to get him ready to transport," Reynolds instructed, surveying the carnage in front of him, wishing it could have ended another way. "I'd like to get back to the SGC as quickly as possible – I think we've all had enough of this place to last a lifetime."

"Sgt. Coleman's taken a bullet to the leg," Cameron glanced up as Reynolds appeared to check on their own men. "He's lost a lot of blood and he's also got a concussion. Most of the others have got minor injuries but they're being patched up as we speak and should be ready to go in a few minutes." Something about Cameron's tone made Reynolds glance over to where a temporary first aid post had been set up and saw Pendrea watching closely as two of the field medics tended to the wounded before proceeding to assist with the cleaning and bandaging to the amusement of the men.

One of them attempted to tell her he could manage on his own, but after receiving a fierce glare and having his hand slapped away from the wound on his arm, meekly allowed her to complete her work.

"You still don't trust her do you?" Reynolds spoke quietly.

"Something about her just seems off," Cameron admitted.

"Perhaps it is because you do not understand her," Teal'c suggested as he returned at that moment.

"Maybe," Cameron shrugged, ready to accept that he wasn't going to find the answers he was looking for just yet. "Is our way back clear?"

"It is," Teal'c confirmed. "There were several men left at the 'gate and they did put up a fight, but they are no longer a problem."

"Well that's good news," Cameron acknowledged. "It looks like we're about ready to go – and not before time."

By the time Coleman was transferred to a stretcher and settled as comfortably as possible, the rest of the group were ready to go, Harrison having to report that the one surviving enemy had died a short time ago. Accepting the news with a nod, Reynolds gave the order to continue the journey to the 'gate at best possible speed.

--

_To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"It's SG3's signal," Sergeant Harriman was relieved to report as General Landry appeared behind him on hearing the incoming wormhole alert. Every time the alarm had sounded in the last couple of hours he'd been hoping it would be someone from the rescue mission, and was thankful that they'd returned before it was time for him to go off duty. "They've got wounded."

"Open the iris," Landry ordered as he made his way to the 'gate room, arriving just before the medics who waited patiently outside the blast doors until they were given the all clear. He watched as two men emerged through the 'gate bearing a third man on a stretcher who was pounced on by the medics as soon as they'd cleared the ramp and whisked away to the infirmary after a brief status check. The rest of the men followed, most of whom seemed to be sporting a variety of minor injuries but at least everyone had returned alive this time.

Teal'c, Mitchell and Reynolds were the last to come through, along with the girl they had told him about. Landry waited as the four of them stopped in front of him, watching as the girl moved closer to Reynolds who placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he performed the introductions.

"Pendrea, this is General Landry, the leader of our facility."

Pendrea took a deep breath and stepped away from Reynolds until she was facing Landry directly. She placed her hands on her forehead and bowed, then stood upright again with straight arms at a slight angle away from her body, palms facing Landry before clasping her hands in front of her.

"It is an honour to meet you, General," she greeted him formally. "On behalf of the people of Kernova, I offer my thanks for the assistance of you and your people."

"You're most welcome," Landry responded, a little taken aback at the child's manner, the quiver in her voice telling him she was finding this far from easy. "We can talk more later, but for now I'll get someone to escort you to the infirmary."

"I'll make sure she gets to the infirmary safely, sir." Reynolds suggested, his hand once more resting on Pendrea's shoulder.

"Good idea, Colonel," Landry readily agreed. "We'll debrief in one hour."

As soon as the 'gate room was clear of all but the security detail, Cameron turned to Landry to ask the question foremost in his mind.

"Has there been any word from the Odyssey?"

"I'm afraid not, and we're having problems getting someone out there with a ship," Landry advised him.

"Isn't the Daedalus scheduled to return?" Cameron asked, his thoughts racing away as he considered what other options might be available.

"Yes, but they're still out of communications range," Landry confirmed. "If we haven't heard anything from the Odyssey by the time we can contact the Daedalus, I'll ask them to divert to the Odyssey's last known position."

"I don't suppose there's anything else we can do in the meantime?" Cameron didn't sound particularly optimistic and was unsurprised by Landry's response.

"No – we've tried every option available and we're just going to have to wait. Now," Landry changed the subject. "We debrief in one hour so I suggest you two get yourselves checked out in the infirmary and then get cleaned up."

"Yes sir." Cameron was more than ready for the latter part of the suggestion as he and Teal'c both headed first for the showers before going to the infirmary as neither of them had any serious injuries and they figured the medical staff would have more than enough to keep them busy for the time being.

By the time they reached the infirmary, the room was empty of anyone other than a few requiring monitoring, Sgt. Coleman who was sleeping off the effects of the anaesthetic he'd been given prior to having the bullet removed from his leg and Colonel Reynolds who was waiting to one side while Pendrea was being examined by Dr Lam.

"Just take a seat over there," Dr Lam waved them to a couple of available beds. "Someone will be with you in a moment."

As they waited, Cameron couldn't help but overhear what was going on between Pendrea and Dr Lam.

"That's just about it for the moment," Dr Lam was saying in a much gentler voice than usual. "There doesn't seem much wrong with you but I'd like to do a couple more tests tomorrow when you're not so tired. Are you hungry?"

"No, ma'am."

"Ok, when did you last eat?"

There was a pause before Reynolds answered for her. "We stopped for something to eat about four hours ago."

"Yeah, but she only ate about two bites," Cameron couldn't help but interrupt, earning himself a glare from Dr Lam. "What?" He challenged unrepentantly before falling silent again.

"Is this true?" Dr Lam prompted, frowning as Pendrea nodded reluctantly. "Did you have anything before that?"

"Sgt. Laidlaw wouldn't let me leave until I'd eaten breakfast," Pendrea told her.

"I won't make you eat anything right now, but I'm going to have some warm milk ready for when you've finished cleaning up," Dr Lam's voice allowed for no arguments. "Sarah will show you where everything is."

"I have to take a care of a few things," Reynolds told Pendrea before she left. "I'll stop by and see you later though."

Pendrea followed the nurse towards the infirmary bathroom area, disappearing from sight leaving Dr Lam to turn her attention to Cameron and Teal'c.

"I'm assuming neither of you has any injuries?"

"Nothing to speak of, ma'am,' Cameron replied promptly, sensing the doctor wasn't best pleased at his earlier interruption, but still unable to stop himself prodding for more information. "So anything unusual about our guest?"

"If I find anything that needs reporting, I'll be sure to let General Landry know immediately," Dr Lam told him brusquely as she continued her routine examination in silence until she was done, nodding to dismiss them while she returned her attention to Pendrea who had returned from the shower dressed in a set of scrubs. Pendrea accepted the mug of warm milk handed to her and drank it thirstily before wiping her hand over her mouth to remove the milk moustache it had left behind. "Now you should try to get some sleep."

Pendrea looked as though she were going to argue but then found it too much effort as she obediently climbed under the covers of the bed. A few minutes later her eyes slid closed and her breathing slowed as she fell asleep.

--

"So what can you tell me?" General Landry asked as he looked at the people seated around the table in the briefing room: Teal'c, Colonels Mitchell and Reynolds, along with Majors Parkinson and Altman, the leaders of SG9 and SG5 respectively.

"When we arrived at the village no-one was left alive," Cameron began. "The bodies of the indigenous people were in various buildings which were set on fire afterwards. It wasn't a pretty sight and Vala told us it was the work of the Lucian Alliance to instil fear in those people who refused to do what they wanted."

"Vala thought she saw someone in the woods above the village and went to investigate by herself," Cameron continued, pulling a face at Landry and received a wry grin in response. "When we went after her, we managed to get ourselves trapped in a concealed pit at the top of the hill – Colonel Carter broke her arm while we were attempting to escape."

"After we got to the village, we found tracks leading in to the woods and saw movement in the distance," Reynolds took up the narrative. "Then Pendrea appeared and took us to where SG1 were – she recognised the Earth symbol from our uniforms and asked for help, telling us that some of the children managed to escape the village before the Alliance arrived and had been surviving in some caves since it happened."

"She warned us about the approaching hurricane and we took shelter in the caves as they were closer than the 'gate," Cameron continued. "As soon as there was a sufficient break in the weather, we sent Whitelaw and Carrick back to you as we knew it would be near impossible to get all those kids back to the 'gate once the storm was finally over. The Odyssey transported most of the kids, except Pendrea who went to fetch something at the last minute. Then we heard they were under attack. When we didn't hear anything more, we started making our way to the 'gate as soon as the storm was over."

"We were just past the village when we became aware a group of people were heading toward us, Teal'c went to see who it was and reported that they were Alliance soldiers come to investigate the reason for the Odyssey being at the planet," Reynolds continued. "We had sufficient warning to conceal ourselves in strategic positions and hoped we wouldn't be seen but due to a mudslide, they found out we were there and had to engage them. None of them survived." Reynolds' face was grim as he reported this, none of them liking what had happened.

"Daniel Jackson did find some writings on the cave walls that he considered held some promise," Teal'c spoke for the first time, being perfectly content for the others to do most of the talking.

"Yeah, and Pendrea practically bit his head off when he asked her if there was anything similar in the other caves," Mitchell snorted, his distrust for the girl still much in evidence.

"I'm getting the feeling there's something you've left out," Landry said, looking directly at Mitchell for a few moments before allowing his gaze to wander around the other faces at the table.

"Colonel Mitchell does not trust Pendrea," Teal'c offered when no-one else said anything.

"Colonel?"

"It's not that I think she's one of the bad guys," Cameron hastened to explain as he saw the look directed at him by Reynolds. "But there are things that don't really add up – like how she knew the Odyssey was under attack before they told us, how she knew the Alliance men were on the way and how she went all mysterious when Jackson showed an interest in what was in the other caves."

"So are you telling me you consider her to be some kind of threat?" Landry threw the question out to everyone present.

"No," Reynolds and Teal'c immediately responded, accompanied by a "Yes" from Mitchell.

"What about you two – what do you make of all this?" Landry appealed to Parkinson and Altman who had remained silent until now.

"I agree with Colonel Mitchell that there were some odd occurrences with the girl, but we've all come across some pretty unusual things since joining the SGC and there was the fact she warned us about the Alliance," Parkinson spoke up after a quick glance at his colleague.

"She's anything but your average twelve year old," Altman added. "But I don't see how she can have had anything to do with what happened to the Odyssey just because she was the first to know something was wrong."

"It sounds as though you should be grateful for what she's done," Landry told Mitchell, who looked as though he were about to argue further, but was prevented from doing so as Landry continued to speak. "But she does still have a security detail assigned to her as per protocol, and it's probably a good idea for Dr Lam to be updated on the situation." He nodded to the Airman on duty who went to the phone and spoke briefly for a few moments before turning back to General Landry.

"Dr Lam is on her way, sir."

"Thanks, son," Landry nodded again at him and returned his attention to the meeting. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"I think we've more or less covered everything," Cameron conceded, watching as Parkinson and Altman took their leave. "What about the Odyssey – can't we ask the Jaffa to lend us a ship to check out the situation?" He still hadn't given up thinking of possible solutions.

"We've already spoken to Bra'tac," Landry told him. "Their ships are tied up with defending Jaffa homeworlds from the Ori, but he's still working on it and hopes to have something for us within the next twenty four hours."

Dr Lam appeared and took a seat, nodding an acknowledgement to the others and looked to Landry for an explanation for her presence.

"How is the girl?" Landry asked first.

"Exhausted but otherwise in pretty good shape," Lam told him. "She fell asleep almost straight away."

"Some concerns have been expressed regarding our young guest," Landry said, noting how Dr Lam's eyes immediately flickered towards Mitchell before returning to himself.

"What sort of concerns?"

"She seems to know what's going to happen before it actually happens," Cameron said.

"Can you be a little more specific?"

"General Landry to the control room," Sgt. Harriman's voice came over the intercom before anyone could respond to the doctor's question. Landry, accompanied by Cameron and Teal'c, made their way down the staircase leaving Colonel Reynolds and Dr Lam on their own.

"Colonel Mitchell mentioned something earlier in the infirmary," Dr Lam said. "I didn't take too much notice at the time. What seems to be the problem?"

"There were a couple of incidents on the planet that Mitchell is suspicious about," Reynolds explained. "Pendrea seemed to know when she was needed by the other children without anything being said, then she knew something was wrong before we knew the Odyssey was under attack and she also warned us about the presence of the Alliance soldiers."

"You mean she's got some kind of telepathic ability?"

"I'm not sure what it is," Reynolds admitted. "She told us of an ability some of her people had - a link to the others - but I'm pretty sure she doesn't pose any threat to us. We can't be too careful though and until we know what's going on, General Landry wants her closely monitored."

"Any further tests will have to wait until morning," Dr Lam said firmly.

"Dr Lam?"

She turned to look at the Airman who had just appeared.

"General Landry would like to see you in the Control Room, ma'am."

Wondering what was going on, Dr Lam headed downstairs leaving Colonel Reynolds to return to his other duties.

--

"We're receiving a communication from the Odyssey," Sgt. Harriman reported, glancing briefly at the General before returning to the console in front of him. "Audio only."

"General Landry is here, sir," Harriman continued, speaking to the occupants of the Odyssey.

"General," Colonel Emerson greeted Landry. "I'm sorry we've been out of touch for so long, but we've only just been able to restore long-range communications. I am concerned about Colonel Mitchell and the others we couldn't transport, we haven't been able to make contact with them."

"It's good to hear from you, Colonel," Landry responded. "No need to worry – the others all made it back, more or less in one piece. Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c are with me now."

"Teal'c? Mitchell? Are you alright?" Daniel Jackson's voice broke in on the conversation before Emerson or Landry could say anything further.

"We are both well, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "How is Colonel Carter?"

"She's much better – the infection's under control and her arm's been properly set. You know we were a little worried when we couldn't get hold of you. Is Pendrea there? The others have been worrying about her and I think it would reassure them if they could talk to her."

"Pendrea's in the infirmary asleep right now," Landry took control again. "I'll have to clear things with Dr Lam before I have her brought here." At a nod from him, one of the airmen on duty disappeared up to the briefing room, returning a few moments later with Dr Lam.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"The Odyssey have made contact and Dr Jackson has asked if Pendrea could talk to the other children," Landry summarised the situation.

"I don't want to disturb her if she's asleep," Dr Lam said. "She really needs to rest right now."

"I understand that," Daniel was prepared to put up an argument. "But I think it would be beneficial for her too if she could speak to her own people."

"I can't argue with that," Dr Lam conceded. "I'll see what I can do." She glanced briefly at her father before disappearing from the control room to return to the infirmary.

"What's your status, Colonel?" Landry returned to more important matters.

"We were attacked by an Alliance ship, sir," Emerson filled him in on the details. "We were able to destroy them but not before we took some damage ourselves. The hyperdrive and shields were both affected, and as you know, we lost communications. We've got the shields up and running but it's going to take us several more hours to repair the hyperdrive."

"What about the transporters?"

"They're still off-line."

"Understood. The Daedalus is on its way back from Atlantis and should be within range some time in the next twenty four hours should you need their assistance."

"That might not be a bad idea," Daniel broke in again. "I've been talking to Brea – she's one of the eldest after Pendrea – and…"

"Just a moment, Dr Jackson," Landry interrupted him as he watched a wide-eyed Pendrea being led into the control room by Dr Lam, followed by the security detail. "Pendrea's just arrived."

"Pendrea? It's Daniel Jackson."

Pendrea stared around the room in confusion, trying to see where he was hiding.

"He's communicating with us through a radio connection," Cameron hastened to explain. "You can hear him but you can't see him."

"Oh." Pendrea looked up at him, not quite believing him but went along with the idea for the time being.

"I've got someone here who'd like to speak to you," Daniel said, then could be heard in quieter tones trying to explain the workings of the radio. "It's alright, just say something and Pendrea will be able to hear you."

"Are you sure?" A child's voice piped up, sounding as confused as Pendrea had looked.

"Brea?" Pendrea took a couple of steps forward as she heard a familiar and most welcome voice. "It is good to hear your voice."

"It is good to hear yours," Brea responded, her manner equally formal and stilted. "Dr Jackson said I would be able to hear and speak to you but I did not believe him."

"Are you well? And the others?" Pendrea asked.

"We are all well but we miss you," Brea assured her. "Vala and Dr Jackson have been spending time with us, as have some members of the ship's crew."

"I look forward to when we can be together once more," Pendrea said. "Take care of each other until then and be well."

"Good fortune be with you until we meet again," Brea responded, her voice replaced by Daniel's again, continuing what he had been about to say before while Pendrea went back to stand beside Dr Lam, wearing a big smile that lit up her face making everyone realise how sombre she had been until that moment.

"Brea says there is more writing on the walls in one of the other caves, similar to that we found in the first one," Daniel was saying. "I'd like to study it further, so I was hoping that the Daedalus could remain at the planet when they arrive and I'll transfer on board while the Odyssey returns with Sam and the children. Brea has been able to show me the approximate location of the cave and the Daedalus should be able to transport me fairly close."

"No!" A loud voice rang out in the room and all eyes turned to Pendrea, the smile wiped from her face to be replaced with a look somewhere between horror and fear.

"What do you mean no?" Cameron demanded sharply, only to find her retreating from the stares directed at her.

"If there's some kind of danger at these caves, you need to let us know," General Landry tried, keeping his voice calm and even, trying not to spook the child even more.

They could hear voices talking quietly on the radio for a few moments before Daniel spoke again.

"Brea isn't aware of anything that could be dangerous," Daniel said. "We can still go but we'd just need to take extra precautions."

"You must not…" Pendrea started to say, much more quietly this time and only heard because attention was still focussed on her.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cameron moved to stand right in front of Pendrea, having had enough of this messing around, convinced that his suspicions were about to be confirmed. "Are our people in any danger if they go to those caves or not?"

"Colonel, you're not helping," Landry spoke firmly, realising that Pendrea was in no state to respond to any questions at the moment. "Dr Lam, take Pendrea to my office and stay with her. Dr Jackson, under no circumstances are you to transport to the planet until you hear back from us."

"Understood, sir," Emerson's voice responded, talking over Daniel who was prepared to argue further.

"Yes, General," Daniel agreed, his voice full of reluctance.

--

_To be continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Landry and Cameron hurried up the stairs to the briefing room as soon as they had finished, followed by Teal'c at a more sedate pace. Standing just outside the General's office door, the three of them looked into the room where Dr Lam was kneeling in front of the chair Pendrea was sitting in, hugging her knees to her chest.

At their arrival, the doctor stood up and patted Pendrea on the shoulder before moving to the doorway and speaking in a quiet voice.

"She's pretty fragile at the moment and hasn't said anything since I brought her here," she reported.

"You mean she's being difficult?" Cameron asked, unable to help himself.

"No. I'd say she's suffering from post-traumatic stress - a delayed reaction to everything she's been through recently," Dr Lam told him, throwing Cameron a frosty glare that served to silence him for the moment.

"So what do you suggest?" Landry asked, glancing in to the room where Pendrea was now gently rocking backwards and forwards, apparently unaware of their presence. "We have to see what's in those caves and we need to know what our people are going to be up against."

"I know," Dr Lam acknowledged, her quick mind having already reached a potential solution, possibly the only option available to them. "And I think Colonel Reynolds is our best bet."

"That could work," Cameron agreed, thinking back to their time on the planet. "She did seem to trust him more than anyone else."

"We'll give it a go then," Landry agreed.

------------

"Pendrea?" Reynolds spoke gently but firmly. Cameron had tracked him down in his office and briefed him on the situation. "Pendrea, I need you to look at me." He was kneeling in front of her, a hand on one of her arms and he was relieved when she slowly lifted her head and he was able to take a good look at her.

Her face had almost no colour and her eyes were filled with a pain and fear that he'd never expected to see in anyone so young.

"I know you'd rather forget what happened but talking about it now will make it easier to deal with – believe me, I've seen this happen plenty of times with other people and I've been through it myself." This got more of a reaction as she loosened one of her arms and gripped his hand tightly in one of her own.

"Have you heard of the Ori?" Pendrea nodded slowly. "We know of a weapon that can be used to defeat them. We don't know where it is, but we believe the writing in the caves on your planet could lead us to it." He felt her body go rigid at mention of the caves but he persevered, knowing they needed this information urgently. "Is there any danger there?" Pendrea nodded her head. "Will you tell us about it?"

Pendrea released her grip on his hand and stared down at the floor for several long moments before returning her eyes to his face and nodding, accepting the hand he held out to her as he led her to the briefing room where Landry, Mitchell, Teal'c and Dr Lam were waiting.

Taking a few sips of water from the glass Dr Lam placed in front of her and gripping the arms of the chair she was sitting in tightly, she started to talk.

"The cave can only be opened by one with the Gift. If anyone else attempts to enter, they will be struck down by a bolt of lightning."

"I see," Landry nodded, reserving his comments for now. "And when you get inside? Is it safe then?"

"Yes, but what you are looking for is concealed behind another protective wall and I would need to open it for you. Once it is opened, your people will be quite safe."

"Excuse me for asking," Cameron jumped in, curiosity getting the better of him. "But from what I've seen of your people, it doesn't seem like they have the technology to do something like that."

"Although my people are able to use it, we did not create it," Pendrea seemed more prepared to talk now that they had moved away from the subject of the cave. "We do not know the importance of what is there, but we have been its guardians for many generations and we believe some of us were provided with the Gift in order to continue protecting it."

"And you would be prepared to go along with our people, to let them in to the cave?" General Landry asked, taken aback as Pendrea looked as though she were about to make a run for the door. "Is there something else we need to know?"

Staring down at her hands resting in her lap, Pendrea spoke in hushed tones as she told him what else they would find.

"That's enough for now," Dr Lam stood up as soon as Pendrea had finished talking. "Pendrea needs to get some more rest before she goes anywhere. Colonel, could you bring her to the infirmary." Waiting only long enough to ensure Reynolds was doing as she asked, Dr Lam left the room.

----------

"Are you sure she's going to be alright for this?" General Landry asked doubtfully as he watched Pendrea, escorted by Colonel Reynolds, enter the 'gate room where Colonel Mitchell, Teal'c and SGs 3 and 5 were already waiting. They were about to leave for Kernova, Pendrea's homeworld, where the Daedalus would transport them on board the moment they arrived. All they were waiting for was a signal from the Daedalus that the 'gate was clear and they were safe to come through.

"She insisted on going," Dr Lam turned to Landry, a frown on her face. "She's said virtually nothing since yesterday, but she's adamant about doing this. She hasn't really dealt with any of what's happened to her and pushing it to the back of her mind isn't going to help in the long run. She trusts Colonel Reynolds and I've briefed the Daedalus doctor, so I guess she's in the best hands right now."

"I hope you're right," Landry said just as the all-clear came from the Daedalus. "You have a go," he addressed the waiting personnel and a few moments later the 'gate sprang to life and the group in the 'gate room had disappeared.

"I guess that's all we can do for now," Dr Lam announced before turning to leave to return to her duties.

------------

Almost as soon as they arrived on the planet, the SGC personnel found themselves caught in a transporter beam and almost instantly were standing on the Daedalus.

Pendrea looked around her with wide-eyed astonishment at what had just happened before Vala and Daniel appeared to greet them.

"How's Sam?" Cameron asked as soon as he got the chance.

"She's recovering nicely in the Odyssey's sickbay," Daniel told him. "We can head over there first if you like – Vala's already taken Pendrea to visit the others before we head down to the planet."

"Sure," Cameron readily agreed, more than happy for the opportunity to bring Daniel up to speed on the latest developments concerning their imminent explorations.

Sam was sitting propped up in one of the sick-bay beds, dressed in a set of blue scrubs and frowning as she pored over the screen of the laptop set up in front of her.

"Hey, I thought you were sick," Cameron said as Sam closed the laptop and put it to one side.

"I was playing solitaire," Sam admitted with a sheepish grin. "Dr Andrews won't let me do anything more constructive."

"Are you feeling better?" Teal'c asked.

"Much, thank you," Sam told him. "Although I seem to be sleeping an awful lot, still."

"Glad to hear it," Cameron said before returning to business, guessing that Sam would be more than ready to hear what had been happening. "We're going to have to tread carefully when we get down to the planet – it may not be as straightforward as we'd like."

"What exactly is it that had General Landry so worked up anyway?" Daniel asked, having heard nothing else after they had been ordered to wait for the arrival of Mitchell and Teal'c. "And why is it so important for Pendrea to be here?"

"She has something similar to the Ancient gene," Cameron told him. "The cave and some kind of hidden room inside it are protected and we need her to open it up for us."

"I see," Daniel frowned, sensing there was something else he wasn't being told.

"Pendrea was reluctant to give us this information because the elders of her village were trapped inside the cave by the Alliance, after filling it with a poisonous gas," Teal'c provided the information, glancing sideways at Cameron, a look that didn't go unnoticed.

"Don't tell me you still suspect she's up to something," Daniel said, his tone full of exasperation. "She's a kid, for crying out loud, what can you possibly think she's going to do?"

"I don't know," Cameron admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "I've just got a gut feeling that there's something else going on here."

"I wish I was going with you," Sam said. "This place sounds like it could be very interesting – and it wouldn't hurt to have someone along who would understand any technology you might find."

"We did bring Major Altman and SG5," Cameron told her. "He pretty much knows what he's doing with Ancient technology and I've got a hunch that this may well be what we're looking at."

"Don't forget about me," Daniel protested. "I'm not exactly ignorant when it comes to this stuff."

"Yeah, but then you're no Samantha Carter, either," Cameron came back with.

"SG1 report to the transporter room." The announcement came over the ship's intercom and the three male members of the team hurriedly took their leave to return to the Daedalus.

-----------

"Doesn't look like anyone's been around for a while," Cameron said when they first arrived at a location that looked very much like the caves they had stayed in on their first visit to the planet. "Ok, let's spread out and secure the area."

A thorough search of the area revealed no surprises, and posting a couple of men to patrol the perimeter, Cameron signalled to the Odyssey that it was safe to beam the remainder of the party down.

Pendrea appeared a few moments later, dwarfed by her hazmat suit even though it was the smallest size available. She was escorted by Colonel Reynolds who had remained behind with her until they received the all-clear from the planet surface.

"We're all set," Cameron told Reynolds, nodding a greeting to Pendrea, keeping his personal doubts well under control, at least for the time being.

"Are you ready?" Reynolds addressed the one person who would be responsible for getting them into the caves safely.

Pendrea took a deep breath and nodded, leading the way to the entrance where she paused, closing her eyes and steeling herself for what she knew had to be done. Cameron, in spite of all his good intentions was about to say something, when Pendrea placed her hand on one of the stones to one side of the clearly marked entrance. For several long moments nothing happened, then the stone started to glow, dimly at first but growing steadily brighter until it flashed a brilliant white that could not be watched by the naked eye. By the time it had died away sufficiently to allow them to look again, the entrance had opened up and Pendrea was standing in the middle of the doorway.

"We'll go in and check the place out first," Cameron reminded Pendrea – they had gone through this on the ship before they had suited up. "We'll head for the back wall like you said and you come in when we give you the all-clear."

Using flash lights, the nominated SG personnel entered the cave, sweeping the area for any signs of visible danger before spreading out to make their way towards the rear wall.

"It's like a scene from a horror movie," Cameron whistled under his breath as they surveyed the scene in front of them.

Everywhere they looked, grotesquely distorted bodies were lying in positions that clearly showed the agony of their dying moments.

"I think I can understand Pendrea's reactions now," Daniel spoke quietly to Cameron. The men all had many years of off-world experience and seen some pretty horrific sights, but this was pretty near the top of the worst ways to die.

"She did not speak of this to the others," Teal'c said, his voice showing respect for the girl who had done what was in her power to ease the burden of sorrow for the other children.

"There are still traces of toxins in the air," Major Altman reported, studying the scanner he held. "I'm not able to identify what was used, but I'd recommend we should proceed wearing hazmat."

"Agreed," Cameron told him as they proceeded with caution until they reached their destination. "Are you getting any readings?"

"Not really, Colonel," Altman told him. "I was getting a residual energy reading from the entrance, but it's remained constant throughout the cave. It's impossible to tell what's causing it or where it's originating from."

Cameron acknowledged this, watching as Daniel carefully searched the adjoining walls, his flash light playing over the markings he had found.

"It's similar to what I saw in the other caves," Daniel looked up as he felt Cameron's questioning gaze. "It's definitely ancient, but it's in some dialect I've never come across – I can recognise individual symbols but I can't make any sense of it."

"Colonel Reynolds, this is Mitchell," Cameron spoke into his radio. "We've secured the area and it's safe to bring the kid in but you will need to keep your hazmat on. Just to give you the heads up – it's not a pretty sight in here."

"Understood, we're coming in."

------------

It was clear as soon as Pendrea entered the cave that it took a great amount of self-control for her not to turn tail and run away from the place as fast as she could. She paused just inside the entrance and took a long hard look around before reaching for Colonel Reynolds' hand and gripping it tightly as they made their way to where SG1 and Major Altman were waiting for them.

No-one spoke as Pendrea stood in front of the rear wall, frowning as she studied it for several minutes.

"Is something wrong?" Daniel asked her, keeping his voice quiet.

"No…it's just…" She paused before speaking rapidly, trying to get the words out as quickly as possible. "Entering the chamber will change everything for me. I know I have to do it but…"

"You're scared of what you're going to find in there," Daniel finished for her. Pendrea studied him closely before nodding.

"You understand," she whispered, recognising something in him that she hadn't seen before, something that helped steel her resolve and she let go of Reynolds' hand for the first time since entering the cave.

Taking a deep breath, she moved to the far right of the rear wall and this time placed both hands on slight indentations in the rock, marks that would have gone unnoticed unless you knew where to look. Almost immediately, the entire rock face shimmered and disappeared, to be replaced by a smooth metal surface with a door that swung silently inwards.

"I need to enter first," Pendrea told them.

"You didn't tell us that before," Cameron told her. His doubts about her had more or less evaporated but he was still inclined to jump to the wrong conclusion.

"I only became aware of it just now," Pendrea told him. "I know that if someone else were to enter before me, then all that we have come here for would be wasted."

"We'll wait out here for your signal," Reynolds threw a look at Cameron to silence him. "If we don't hear from you in five minutes we'll come in after you."

"This will only take a few moments," Pendrea assured him before she disappeared into the unlit opening.

As good as her word, almost immediately Pendrea reappeared as lights began to illuminate the hidden chamber and Reynolds led the way forwards.

Inside, a raised platform stood in the centre of the room while the walls were lined with consoles, their panels glowing as they powered up for the first time in centuries.

Pendrea stood quietly to one side of the platform as Daniel and Major Altman immediately began checking the consoles, bringing up displays as they consulted with each other in what sounded like a foreign language.

"So have we found anything we can use?" Cameron asked, somewhat impatiently after five minutes. "Yo! Jackson! Altman! What have you got there?" He repeated more loudly when both men ignored his first question.

"It's a database," Daniel told him, already itching to return to the console he was standing in front of. "It's similar to the Ancient repository but it's in manageable chunks."

"You mean we won't need General O'Neill to stick his head in of those head-sucker things?" Cameron asked.

"This is designed to be used by anyone who can understand Ancient, sir," Major Altman added. "But this will take months to go through, we really need…"

His voice trailed off as he realised the attention of the others in the room was focussed on the child who had stepped up on to the platform, a blank look on her face, just as one of the familiar repository devices appeared from out of the base of the platform, activated by her presence.

"No!" Daniel yelled. At the same time both himself and Reynolds threw themselves on to the platform to try to prevent Pendrea from being drawn into a potentially life threatening situation, only to find all three of them trapped inside a shimmering force-field.

------------

_To be continued..._


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry it's been so long since I updated. Hope you enjoy._

**Chapter 7**

"What the hell?" Cameron, who had been studying one of the consoles beside Teal'c, looked up to see Reynolds, Daniel and Pendrea caught inside a force-field that surrounded the platform in the centre of the chamber. "Altman? What happened?"

"I'm not sure, sir." Altman was scrabbling around between the console and his own equipment trying to figure out what was going on. "That device looks very much like…"

"It is one of the Ancient repositories," Teal'c spoke up for the first time since they entered the chamber, having been content until now to leave the talking to the others.

"But I thought to activate one of those you had to stick your head in it," Cameron looked puzzled. He walked around the outside of the shielded area, trying to figure out any way of getting inside or shutting it off.

"It would appear that this one is different," Teal'c remarked, unnecessarily.

"Look," Cameron drew their attention back to the shielded area. As they watched, another figure appeared on the platform, shimmering and ethereal.

"They were the Ancients," Altman told them. "They must have been capable of changing the technology to suit their purpose. We know that a Goa'uld or Jaffa won't activate one of these devices, it's possible there's something about the girl that triggered it."

"Can it be deactivated from here?" Teal'c asked.

"I don't think so," Altman admitted as he continued to take readings. "The power source is inside the force-field and I'm pretty certain there's no way to control it from out here."

"Pretty certain isn't good enough, Major," Cameron told him. "Get whoever you need in here to help you, but we have to try everything we can to shut this thing off."

-----------

"Whoa!" Daniel exclaimed as they found themselves cut off from the rest of the chamber.

"Dr Jackson?" Reynolds glared at Daniel, almost as though this were his fault.

"I think it activated when it sensed Pendrea near it," Daniel tried to explain what was going on, without fully understanding it himself. "And when she stepped on to the platform, it cut her – and us – off."

"I can see that," Reynolds told him impatiently. "How about turning it off?"

"The only way I know of to interface with one of these things…"

"Is to stick your head in it, I know," Reynolds said. "I certainly don't want to go down that route – and neither are you," he added firmly as he saw Daniel was preparing to do exactly that.

"But…"

"Perhaps we should concentrate on finding another way out of here first," Reynolds suggested. He'd worked around Daniel Jackson for long enough to know he would do just about anything to further his knowledge of the Ancients.

"I know, you're right," Daniel sighed, as he approached the repository, only to find Pendrea, who had remained quietly calm throughout this exchange, had beat him to it and had placed her head within the device.

"Pendrea?" Reynolds approached the girl, wary of touching her, not wanting to make a bad situation any worse.

Daniel was searching the external sides of the repository, trying to figure out if there was any way of disconnecting the device, only to turn back to Reynolds with nothing that would help.

"Couldn't we just shoot it?" Reynolds asked in desperation.

"I don't think it would work," Daniel told him. "Besides, you don't really want to risk it do you?"

Reynolds looked at him but before he could respond, the repository shut down and Pendrea staggered a few steps backwards before Reynolds caught her as she collapsed.

"Her pulse is racing," Reynolds told Daniel as they both looked around, expecting the forcefield to disappear now that the repository was no longer active.

Instead, a figure shimmered into existence before them, an image that wasn't quite stable, indicating it was a hologram.

"Morgan Le Fay," Daniel said, not quiet believing his eyes. The last he'd seen of her had been on Atlantis when the others had pulled her away for the crime of helping the humans.

"What have you done to her?" Reynolds snapped, seeing someone they could blame for what had happened.

"She will be fine," the woman said. "But I am not Ganas Lal, Daniel Jackson, I am Morgause."

"Why am I not surprised – it must run in families," Daniel said cryptically, adding an explanation for Reynolds' benefit. "According to Arthurian legend, Morgause was Morgan Le Fay's sister, she was married to King Lot and mother to Gawaine and Mordred."

"She doesn't look fine," Reynolds came back with, directed at Morgause.

"Time is short," Morgause continued, unperturbed by the hostility being thrown at her. "And I must explain my purpose. I lived among these people for many years and I discovered they were able to communicate telepathically. Through the generations, the ability began to die out and I altered the life-code of certain families with the intention that one day, the ability would be fully realised in one mortal who could be used to channel the power of the ascended."

"Why?" Daniel asked bluntly.

"There were several of us who feared the Ori would one day find a way into this galaxy," Morgause told them. "We were prohibited from directly interfering if this happened, but…"

"But you bent the rules in order to enhance the natural ability of these people," Daniel finished for her.

"When the time arrived, the chosen one would seek out this place and the portal would recognise them and bring it to my attention."

"She's just a child," Reynolds argued. "What is she supposed to do?"

"This was not what I intended," Morgause admitted, looking regretfully at Pendrea. "The training that she would have gone through would have better prepared her for this. Because of the circumstances, I must ask for your help."

"What can you want from us? Haven't you done enough already?" Daniel spoke angrily. "I've seen this nearly kill a good friend of mine twice – he was saved only because the Asgard turned up in time."

"You are well-versed in our culture and understand more about us than any other living being," Morgause said. "The child will need someone to guide her, to help her learn how to control what she has been given. You are the only one who can do this. Colonel," she turned to Reynolds who had fallen quiet, allowing Daniel to take the lead as the one best qualified to handle the situation. "She will need support and nurturing. She trusts you and will learn to trust others in the same way, but you will always be the first she turns to when she is in need."

"But…" Daniel tried to interrupt when it became clear that the figure was starting to lose cohesion and Morgause interrupted him.

"I can remain no longer, all you need is within this chamber. Good luck."

A moment later she was gone, and at the same time, the force field disappeared letting in a worried Cameron, Teal'c and Altman.

"Is she alright?" Cameron asked anxiously as soon as the shield deactivated.

"I'm not sure," Reynolds admitted as he picked the still unconscious Pendrea up and started walking to the door.

"Based on Jack's experiences with those things, we may need assistance from the Asgard, but…" Daniel's voice trailed off as he stared after the departing Reynolds. "That was Morgan Le Fay's sister, Morgause. She said Pendrea was the product of years of genetic engineering and although she was younger than she would have liked, she would be alright."

"She's not related to Anubis is she?" Cameron asked, looking concerned.

"No, I believe she was another of the Ancients who wanted to help us against the Ori, and this was her way of doing it," Daniel defended the Ancient woman. "She also said that everything we would need to help Pendrea learn to manage her abilities was in here."

"I'll get a team on it right away," Altman said, as he moved to the doorway to summon assistance.

"Look, I have no idea how long we've got here before the Alliance returns," Cameron said thoughtfully. "We know they're going to start bringing groups of people here at some stage. Is there any way we can download any of this stuff – or bring it with us."

"I'll check out that possibility, sir," Altman agreed as he returned with several others in tow. "I'll also look into sealing this place up again if we need to."

"Do that," Cameron nodded his acceptance of this. "Jackson..." He realised Daniel was already engrossed in scrolling through the data on one of the terminals and, doing a final check to make sure there was nothing else needing his attention, returned with Teal'c to the outer chamber.

"Do you ever get the feeling things are spiralling out of control?" Cameron asked Teal'c, not really expecting an answer.

The two men spent the next few hours assisting with burying the bodies from the outer cave. The work was hard and hot and it was a grim task, but it needed to be done and by the time Colonel Caldwell contacted them, they were just about done.

"Daedalus to Colonel Mitchell," Caldwell's voice crackled over the radio.

"Mitchell, here," Cameron responded, instantly picking up the Colonel's tone. "Is there a problem?"

"Your time's up," Caldwell told him. "There's activity at the 'gate – you've got thirty minutes to pack up and get out of there."

"Understood. The burial detail is more or less finished, we'll help the research team bring up what they need. Mitchell out."

Leaving the finishing touches to the graves to two of the men, Mitchell led the remaining eight back inside the cave to the inner chamber where all they could hear was the occasional murmured exchange. Cameron stood inside the doorway and watched the seven members of the research team and Daniel intent on their work and oblivious to the intrusion.

"Time to pack up and go, gentlemen," Cameron announced, unsurprised when all but Daniel turned to look at him before hastily finishing up what they were working on. "We'll help with anything that needs to go back to the Daedalus – but you'd better let us know what's what – we wouldn't want to ruin any of your hard work."

Making sure the evacuation was well under way, Cameron approached Daniel who was still unaware of the hive of activity that was now going on around him.

"Jackson," Cameron said loudly into Daniel's ear when his first few attempts at attracting his attention failed.

"What?" Daniel's focus snapped away from the Ancient head-sucking device to the source of the disturbance.

"Time to go, sunshine," Cameron rolled his eyes as he saw Daniel's attention already wavering and returning to the device. "No you don't – this place is going to be swarming with Alliance any moment and we have to leave. Teal'c." Giving Daniel no more time to protest, Teal'c grabbed one of Daniel's arms in a firm grasp and hauled him to his feet.

"Teal'c!" Daniel tried to argue. "I just need a few more minutes."

"We do not have any more minutes, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c informed him, allowing Daniel time to shut down his lap top and gather his notes before escorting him outside.

Major Altman was waiting just outside the inner chamber, concentrating on his lap top as he worked rapidly to reconfigure the security systems, barely waiting for Daniel, Teal'c and Cameron to exit before the narrow entrance hallway disappeared from view.

"That it?" Cameron asked as Altman got to his feet and joined them.

"As far as I can tell," Altman admitted. "I don't think the security measures were designed to be reactivated, but it should keep out any unwanted visitors – and that's assuming they can get through the outer defences."

"Better finish up then, we don't have much time," Cameron urged the other man as they waited for him to finish up on the outside of the cave before being beamed up.

"That should do it," Altman finally announced with a regretful sigh as he stood with the others and a few minutes later, they were standing on the Daedalus.

------------

_To be continued..._


	8. Chapter 8

_Note: sorry for the delay in posting. This will be finished, so thanks for reading._

**Chapter 8**

"Did you get what you needed?" Colonel Caldwell asked as Cameron, Daniel, Teal'c and Altman met him as requested in the briefing room. As soon as the last group had been beamed on board, the ship had left orbit and was now en route to Earth.

"We got as much as possible," Major Altman told him. "We skimmed through what we could and downloaded what appeared to be most useful, but to be honest..."

"We could only bring back a fraction of what was there." Daniel finished off for him. "We won't know what we've got until we get chance to go through it properly, and there's no time like the present."

"Dismissed," Caldwell announced, a smile on his face as he watched the two 'geeks' hurry off to begin work on the information they had brought back.

"How's the kid?" Cameron asked as he got to his feet, not failing to notice that Daniel's preoccupation with what they had brought back had put her right out of his mind.

"She's in sick bay – she's been unconscious since Reynolds brought her back," Caldwell's face turned more serious. "Dr Felgate says her brain activity is off the chart but she's unresponsive to physical stimuli."

"That Ancient chick said she would be fine," Cameron said.

"So Reynolds told me," Caldwell nodded. "But other than being unconscious, there doesn't seem to be much wrong with her. All we can do is wait and see."

"Yes sir," Cameron accepted this before disappearing to find a shower and some clean clothes.

------------

"How's it going?" Cameron asked a few hours later as he dropped in to the cargo hold Daniel and the rest of the science team had been allocated.

"Slowly," Daniel admitted as he looked up for a moment, gratefully accepting one of the cups of coffee Cameron had brought with him. "But even from a preliminary examination, it's clear we've got some very useful information. If you look here, you can see..."

"Ah ah, too much information, already," Cameron hastily halted Daniel in mid-sentence, holding his hands up in a gesture of defeat. "Just give me the cliffs notes version when you've got something significant to report. Colonel Caldwell says we'll be back home in twelve hours."

Cameron smiled to himself as he realised Daniel was already focussed on his work again, and, delivering the rest of the coffees to the science team who were equally as caught up in their work, made to leave the room, only to be brought to a halt by an urgent message over the ship's intercom.

"_Dr Jackson to sick-bay. Dr Jackson, please report to sick-bay immediately."_

Not waiting to see if Daniel had heard the message, Cameron hauled him to his feet and had him half-way out the door before Daniel had time to protest.

"You can put me down, now," Daniel sounded aggrieved.

"Sorry – it sounded urgent and I wasn't sure if you'd heard."

"Well I did."

"I said I was sorry."

"You didn't sound very sincere."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Cameron grinned at Daniel, who shook his head in exasperation at the thought of having another colleague who could behave like a small child.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asked Dr Felgate who hurried over as soon as he saw Daniel and Cameron, their eyes drawn to the far end of sick-bay where Colonel Reynolds was kneeling in front of a cowering Pendrea, who was curled up on the floor with her hands over her ears.

"She woke half an hour ago," Dr Felgate told them. "She seemed fine at first, then she became distressed, saying she could hear voices and that they wouldn't stop talking. I tried to assure her there was no-one else here but she didn't seem to hear what I was saying. I sent for Colonel Reynolds as soon as she woke up and she will respond to him, but she's still hearing the voices."

"We know she had an empathic connection to her own people," Daniel spoke slowly as he ran through his thoughts aloud. "She was also connected to that device for several minutes before she passed out. You know when you download an update to your computer and you have to reboot it for it to take effect?"

"You think her being unconscious was the Ancients' way of rebooting her brain?" Cameron asked, making Daniel was glad to have someone around who could grasp what he was trying to say.

"I think that's exactly what it is," Daniel began to get excited, his words spilling out faster as things began to fall into place. "If all the abilities of her people were passed to her when they died, it makes sense that it would take time for them to start taking effect. And the additional download she must have received from the device in the cave was to help catalogue and organise everything. Morgause said she would be fine, but she also said that she would need help to learn to control the abilities she would be given. I think what's happening to Pendrea here is just the first step and her empathic connection to her own people has developed into the ability to hear the thoughts of anyone within proximity. Unless she learns to shut it out, it could literally drive her insane very quickly."

"So what can we do?"

"Not much," Daniel smiled regretfully at Dr Felgate who had asked the question. "It's going to be down to Colonel Reynolds and myself to help her through this."

"What are you going to do?" Cameron asked the pointed question, having his suspicions confirmed by Daniel's next answer.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure, but I've got to try."

Leaving the other two men, Daniel approached Reynolds and Pendrea, who was now sitting up with her face buried in Reynolds' chest, her arms wrapped tightly around him as she clung to him.

"Pendrea, it's Daniel – Dr Jackson," Daniel knelt beside the other two, a hand on Pendrea's shoulder. Reynolds looked at him, a question in his eyes but he remained silent. "We're going to help you through this but it won't be easy and I need you to concentrate on what I'm saying. Try to block out all those other voices and listen only to me."

Tightening his grip on Pendrea's shoulder to the point where it was almost painful, Daniel closed his eyes and frowned as he concentrated hard, forming images in his mind to portray what he wanted to say. After a while, he could feel Pendrea's shaking ease up until her body relaxed as she focussed on what Daniel was showing her.

He didn't have any idea how long they communicated in this way, but when he opened his eyes he could see the lights had been dimmed and Pendrea was now leaning sleepily against Reynolds.

"I have no idea what you just did, but it worked," Reynolds told him.

"How long..."

"It's getting on for three hours now."

"Really? It only felt like five minutes."

Reynolds smiled, knowing Daniel of old and his tendency to become so engrossed in his work that he lost all track of time. "So what happens now?"

Their voices had drawn the attention of Dr Felgate and Cameron, who had both been keeping an eye on the small group.

"Jackson?"

"It was pretty much as I suspected – the empathy has developed into telepathy but it happened without warning and she wasn't prepared for it," Daniel explained, surprised how tired he was feeling. "I got her to link her mind with mine to help shut out the other voices she was hearing and I was able to help her learn to focus her ability. In time, shutting out other people's thoughts will become second nature, but for now, it will require some effort."

"Are we going to have any more episodes like this one?" Reynolds asked, as he shifted to allow Dr Felgate and Cameron to move the half-asleep Pendrea to the bed before he got stiffly to his feet and stretched his cramped muscles.

"I have no idea," Daniel admitted, too tired to move himself. "But it is likely. I'll continue to work with her and hopefully pre-empt any other problems she might have, but it is going to be trial and error. Thanks," he added as Reynolds reached down to help him to his feet, only to find the room spinning crazily as soon as he was upright. "Headrush," he tried to pass it off, unsuccessfully he realised as he found himself propelled towards the closest bed by Cameron.

"And my name is Rumpelstiltskin," Cameron said cryptically as Dr Felgate, backing Cameron up, pressed Daniel's shoulders back until he was lying down while Cameron proceeded to lift his legs up on to the bed. "I prescribe eight hours of bed rest and if you want a second opinion, I'm sure Dr Felgate will tell you the same."

"Pulse is racing," Dr Felgate muttered as he gave Daniel a quick check up. "Blood pressure raised. When did you last eat?"

Daniel stared at him as he tried to find the answer to the question, but his mind was growing increasingly fuzzy and he couldn't seem to manage to form any words. He had a vague awareness of hearing voices that seemed to come from a long way off and felt someone tugging at his feet but almost immediately the outside world faded away and unconsciousness took control.

------------

_To be continued..._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Jackson, wake up." Daniel felt himself being shaken as a familiar voice called out in urgent tones. His thoughts were still very fuzzy and his eyes felt like they were glued shut, but he struggled to pry them open even as he realised something was wrong. "Jackson – if you don't wake up right now we'll all be dead ducks sometime in the next thirty minutes."

The violent shaking of his surroundings along with the voice yelling in his ear finally did the trick and Daniel forced his eyes to open to take a look around him, his sluggish brain registering the emergency lights illuminating sick bay and what appeared to be weapons thudding against their shields.

"What happened?"

"We stumbled on an Ori ship – or they stumbled on us," Cameron explained. "Whatever. Our shields are up but we're having problems with our weapons systems and we think Pendrea may be responsible - we can't return fire."

"Why would..."

"No idea, but I don't think it's intentional," Cameron sounded exasperated. "Look, we don't have much time before we're blown to kingdom come. Reynolds is with her in the mess hall right now but he hasn't been able to do anything."

"Right, of course," Daniel finally grasped the urgency of the situation. "Lead the way."

Cameron, helping Daniel to his feet until his head cleared enough for him to manage on his own, led the way to the mess hall, struggling to remain upright as the ship continued to shudder under the continuing barrage of enemy weapons.

"Pendrea, tell me what's happening?" Daniel said as soon as he arrived, sitting down beside the girl who was looking terrified at the situation she found herself in, taking her hands in his own in a reassuring grip.

"They were shooting at us," Pendrea looked up at him, her eyes showing her trust and Daniel hoped he would be able to fulfil that trust. "I didn't try to do anything, I just thought about how I wanted it to stop."

"We did start to return fire," Reynolds provided additional information. "But after a few moments there was a malfunction and none of our own weapons would work."

"We're going to do the same as we did before," Daniel gripped Pendrea's hands more firmly as he looked directly into her eyes. "You need to clear your mind of everything and focus only on what you can see in my mind. You've done it before and it should be easier this time. Now..."

-----------

"Daniel's with Pendrea, sir," Cameron reported to Caldwell as he arrived on the bridge, knowing there was little else he could do in the mess hall. "Now we'll just have to wait and see."

"It had better be quick, otherwise we won't have long to wait," Caldwell told him.

"Shields at twenty percent," Major Marks reported, as he manoeuvred the ship to try to evade another round of incoming fire, while elsewhere on the bridge personnel were frantically checking and re-checking for any indication that the weapons were working.

"Return fire as soon as weapons are available," Caldwell instructed, finding it increasingly frustrating to be so helpless.

"Sir, you should take a look at this," Marks frowned as he stared at the view screen in front of them.

The Ori ship was listing to one side and almost simultaneously, the attack on the Daedalus came to an abrupt halt.

"Ori weapons and shields are down," Marks continued, a puzzled look on his face. "And I'm reading power fluctuations throughout their ship. I can't explain it."

"What about our weapons?" Caldwell barked, not wanting to lose the advantage.

"No response but shields are holding at twenty percent."

"Are engines operational?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then get us out of here. Engage hyperdrive engines."

Moments later, the Ori ship was left far behind as the Daedalus sped on her way back to Earth.

"Let me know if they come after us," Caldwell ordered as he got to his feet. "I'll be in the mess hall."

Cameron joined him as they hurried down the hallways and arrived in the mess hall in record time. As they entered, they couldn't help but be aware of a concerned Reynolds and Dr Felgate watching Daniel and Pendrea.

"What's going on?"

"Dr Jackson was trying to help Pendrea like he did before," Reynolds told them. "And the fact that the Ori stopped shooting at us means he must have succeeded, but something's wrong and we have no idea what to do about it."

Daniel's face was pasty white, with beads of sweat on his forehead and even as they watched, a droplet of blood appeared on his upper lip as it dripped from his nose. At the same time, the lights flickered briefly then went out altogether, accompanied by a number of emergency sirens.

"I don't know what it is they're doing, but it's going to get us all killed and we need find a way to break the connection," Caldwell snapped.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Cameron tried to protest. "We have no idea what effect that could have on either of them."

"No, but we know what effect it will have on the rest of us if we don't put a stop to it," Caldwell told him curtly. "Shoot them both if you have to."

"Doc?" Cameron wished Sam were there to try to get them out of this mess.

"Whatever harm it might cause, I think more damage will be done if we don't stop this," Dr Felgate admitted.

"So what do you suggest?" Reynolds had kept quiet through the discussion, hearing his own thoughts voiced by Cameron, but nevertheless understanding Caldwell's position.

"Zat them," Cameron suggested.

"Would that work?" Caldwell asked.

"It might," Dr Felgate nodded. "It would cause a disruption in the electrical activity in their brains, but it shouldn't be fatal."

"We know a zat blast wouldn't normally hurt them," Reynolds countered. "But this isn't exactly normal."

"I know, but it's not like we've got a lot of choices. Doc, you might want to get some reinforcements up here. Stand back." Pulling his zat from where it was strapped to his leg, Cameron activated it and aimed at the two figures sitting locked in their own private world, oblivious to anything that was going on around them. Taking one last look at the other people in the room as though looking for a last minute reprieve, Cameron fired once before racing over to catch Daniel as he was about to topple over, easing him to the floor, watching out of the corner of his eye as he saw Reynolds doing the same for Pendrea.

Not sure which patient required his attention most, Dr Felgate hesitated for a moment until Daniel's body went completely rigid before he started shaking violently and uncontrollably, drawing Dr Felgate's attention.

"Get this furniture out of the way," he yelled to Cameron, who was already doing that, feeling helpless as he watched his team-mate thrashing about then finding himself pushed firmly out of the way as additional medical personnel arrived to take over. Seeing he could do nothing further for Daniel for the moment, he turned his attention to the quieter and more ordered scene around Pendrea.

"She's stable, let's get her to sick-bay," one of the medics was saying as he got to his feet, allowing Colonel Reynolds to pick up the unconscious girl and a few moments later they had disappeared.

Cameron was about to go after them, not sure if he could stand around continuing to feel useless when a change in the mood of the medical team behind him drew him back.

"He's crashing, charge the paddles," Dr Felgate ordered intent on his work, cutting Daniel's shirt away to allow him access to try to restart his heart. Another medic was providing ventilation, keeping the oxygen flowing until Daniel was able to manage on his own.

Drawn back to this scene, Cameron didn't realise he was holding his breath until Dr Felgate sat back on his heels, a look of relief on his face.

"That's all we can do here, let's get him to sick-bay."

The next few minutes were an orderly hive of activity as the medical team prepared to move Daniel, Cameron going to follow them until he found Colonel Caldwell placing a hand on his arm to prevent him.

"There's nothing you can do," Caldwell told him bluntly. "He's in the best possible hands and they'll let you know as soon as you can see him."

"I can't just..."

"Yes, you can," Caldwell's voice was firm and allowed for no argument. "We've got a lot of work to do to get this ship operational and we can use all the hands we can get. I want you to report to the auxiliary control room and help out there."

"But..."

"I'll make sure you're informed of any changes in Dr Jackson's condition."

"Yes sir," Cameron reluctantly accepted the order and made his way to auxiliary control.

------------

_To be continued..._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"How's he doing?" Cameron asked Dr Felgate too many hours later. He'd spent his time assisting with repairs wherever he was needed but his thoughts kept returning to the infirmary, resisting the temptation to call in for an update.

"He's stable," Dr Felgate spoke quietly, his whole manner shouting out the seriousness of Daniel's situation, the ventilator and other medical devices he was hooked up to confirming this. "Physically there's not much wrong with him but he's not able to breathe on his own and his brain activity is...unusual."

"What exactly do you mean by unusual?" Colonel Caldwell asked.

"There are spikes of brain waves followed by long periods of minimal activity," Dr Felgate tried to explain. "During the spikes, he appears to be experiencing REM sleep but then he returns to a comatose state."

"Will he be alright?"

"To be honest, I have no idea," Dr Felgate admitted. "We don't have the equipment here to make a proper diagnosis or to determine the treatment he needs. We're keeping him comfortable and providing him with what he needs to keep him alive until we can get him to a better equipped facility."

"We'll be under way within the hour," Caldwell assured him. "The hyperdrive will be functional by then and we can complete the other repairs while we're under way. What about the girl?"

Cameron had almost forgotten Pendrea with everything else that had been going on.

"She's sedated," Felgate told them, wishing he could provide some good news. "She was feverish and that triggered several seizures. We managed to bring her temperature down, but she was having problems controlling her abilities and we sedated her as a precautionary measure."

"Good work, doctor," Caldwell nodded at him.

"Is it alright if I stay with Jackson?" Cameron asked, half expecting Caldwell to detail him to another repair crew, relieved when he got a nod and grabbed a chair before anyone could change their mind. "So, have I ever told you about the time I went camping with my grand-daddy? No? Well..."

----------

Over the next few hours, Cameron related numerous tales of his childhood to the unconscious Daniel. Teal'c stopped by several times, bringing coffee and sandwiches with him and to see if there was any change in his condition. A couple of times Cameron got up to stretch his legs and to use the bathroom. On the second occasion he returned to sick-bay to find a flurry of activity around Daniel and Teal'c standing to one side, a grim expression on his face.

"What happened?"

"Daniel Jackson has had another seizure," Teal'c told him. "His heart stopped for a short time but the doctors were able to get it started again. I am not sure that he will recover."

"Don't say that," Cameron said from between gritted teeth. "He's been through much worse than this and pulled through hasn't he?"

"Indeed," Teal'c acknowledged with a tilt of his head before falling silent as they waited for the doctors to finish.

"We've got him back," Dr Felgate told them after what seemed like hours. "But he may not survive another seizure. We just aren't equipped to deal with something like this." The doctor ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, a frown on his face that only deepened when a small figure appeared silently beside Daniel's bed, taking one of his lifeless hands in her own.

"I thought you said..." Cameron started.

"I did," Felgate looked more than a little puzzled. "She should have been out for hours. Colonel?" He looked even more puzzled as Reynolds also appeared, his face streaked with dirt from helping with the repairs.

"What's going on?" Reynolds looked equally confused as he took in the scene before him.

"We might ask you the same question," Cameron said. "I thought you were..."

"I was," Reynolds finished for him.

"You know, it would be nice if I got to finish my own sentence once in a while," Cameron said snippily.

"I'm not sure why I'm here," Reynolds continued, giving Cameron a sympathetic smile, "but I'm guessing Pendrea has something to do with it. Didn't you...?"

"Yes, yes, we've already been there," Cameron stopped the conversation going round in more circles. "What do you think..."

"I have to help him," Pendrea stopped all further talk and the room fell silent. "Morgause told me what to do but..."

"What is it? What else did she say?" Reynolds knelt in front of the frightened girl, a hand on her shoulder.

"She told me I would lose what she has given me, that it is too soon for me to use it."

"We can't tell you what to do," Reynolds began, but a large hand on his shoulder made him fall silent.

"Is it not possible that what you have already done may have damaged your powers?" Teal'c asked, going straight to the heart of the matter.

"Yes, but I know how important this could be."

"Pendrea," Reynolds nodded his thanks at Teal'c for helping make the situation clearer. "You know what you should do. We'll be there for you whatever happens, you can count on that."

"Thank you." Her face sombre, she threw her arms around Reynolds' neck, hugging him tightly for a few moments before returning her attention to Daniel. Clasping one of Daniel's hands in both of her own, Pendrea closed her eyes and wrinkled her forehead as she focussed on Daniel.

For long minutes nothing happened, then Reynolds hastily reached for Pendrea when her legs sagged, supporting her and helping her remain upright as she continued whatever it was she was doing.

"He's stabilising," Dr Felgate spoke quietly, not wanting to disturb Pendrea, as he continued checking and rechecking the machines attached to Daniel. A few minutes later, Pendrea opened her eyes, let go of Daniel's hand and tried to move away, only for her legs to give way completely.

At the same moment, Daniel's eyes flickered opened and he began to gag as he attempted to breathe on his own, disoriented by the tube in his throat.

"You're in sickbay, Dr Jackson," Dr Felgate assured him. "Try to relax and we'll have the tube out in just a moment." The medical staff worked quickly and Daniel was soon breathing with just the assistance of the nasal canula. He tried to speak, but his throat was dry and scratchy and he gratefully accepted the ice chips Cameron handed to him.

"Pendrea?" Daniel rasped, still having trouble with his voice. His eyes were already on the little girl who was now lying on the next bed, to all appearances lifeless.

"Pulse is weak and thready, BP is 70 over 40. We're losing her," the attending doctor reported to Dr Felgate who had hurried over as soon as he realised what was going on.

"Jackson, what are you doing?" Cameron asked as he tried to stop Daniel from climbing out of bed. "You nearly died – you shouldn't be up and about."

"I have to go to her," Daniel forced the words out. "She saved my life, now I have to help her. Help me, please – she doesn't have much time."

Cameron hesitated for a moment, but Teal'c was there before him, offering a strong arm for him to lean on, half-carrying him to the other bed.

Placing the palm of his hand on Pendrea's forehead, Daniel looked Dr Felgate directly in the eye and shook his head. Dr Felgate opened his mouth to protest, but Daniel's gaze remained steady and the doctor took a step back, waving off the crash team who were ready to spring into action.

"What's going on?" Reynolds looked to Daniel for an answer, unable to help the little girl who had relied on him to keep her safe.

"She knows what's happening," Daniel told him, his face beaded with drops of moisture. "She knows we're both here, just keep holding her hand until it's over."

Daniel exchanged a long look with the Colonel, who glanced at Pendrea then back at Daniel as he realised what the other man was referring to. His attention was drawn back to Pendrea who was looking between him and Daniel with barely open eyes before they slid closed once more, her breathing slowed and then, almost imperceptibly, stopped completely.

"She's gone," Dr Felgate announced sombrely, finding himself pushed out of the way by Teal'c as a glowing light emerged from the pile of now empty clothes on the bed.

The light briefly hovered above their heads before shooting through the bulkheads and disappearing from sight. Startled cries could be heard as other crew members encountered the strange light, but all knew what it was and stood clear to allow the life form free passage.

"Attention all personnel, this is the bridge," Major Marks' voice announced. "The ascended being has left the ship. Repeat, the ascended being has left the ship."

"I never expected that," Cameron said, rather needlessly.

"There was no other way it could happen," Daniel told him, his voice weak with exhaustion, back in bed where Teal'c had frog-marched him as soon as Pendrea was gone. "She was too drained to continue even before she healed me. She knew that and Morgause explained what would happen."

"But she was just a kid," Cameron protested.

"Maybe, but she's got a whole other existence in front of her now," Daniel's voice was barely a whisper. "Think I'll..." his eyes slid closed and his body relaxed as he passed out.

"He'll be fine," a still shaken Dr Felgate told the others. "He's sleeping."

"There was nothing else you could have done," Reynolds assured the doctor, who was still blaming himself for what happened. "Dr Jackson knows better than anyone what had to happen."

"Yes, but now we've got to find another way to save the galaxy," Cameron said what everyone else was already thinking. "And there's no time like the present..."

**THE END**

_Thanks for reading and sticking with it, hope you enjoyed it!_


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